President Donald Trump’s approval rating might be tanking nationally, but he’s still riding high among Florida Republicans, who overwhelmingly support his presidency according to a new poll.
The same can’t be said, however, for some of the biggest names in Florida politics like House Speaker Richard Corcoran, whose political drama with Gov. Rick Scott hasn’t made him more recognizable to Florida voters.
A new Associated Industries of Florida poll released Wednesday found Florida Republicans are still rootin’ tootin’ Trump fans, with 81 percent approving of his current job as president.
Trump’s base continues to be a stronghold of support, with 56 percent strongly approving of the job he’s doing as president.
AIF’s vice president of political operations Ryan Tyson said the poll results don’t necessarily bring the shock value since the Republican voters surveyed were involved in the election process from start to finish.
“These numbers shouldn’t come as a surprise because A) these are primary voting Republicans and B) the President is only doing what he told the voters he would do," he said.
The poll results are a sharp contrast from national surveys, which show Trump’s approval rating slipping across the country to an all-time low, with only 38 percent of Americans approving of his job performance.
Gov. Rick Scott can relate to Trump in that both enjoy similar numbers of approval in the poll. Forty-one percent of those surveyed said they strongly approved of Scott’s job as governor, with 81 percent approving of his job as governor.
When it came to other elected Republicans, over half -- 57 percent -- approved of Sen. Marco Rubio, while Attorney General Pam Bondi took 54 percent approval.
Wednesday’s poll isn’t a bright spot for the future ambitions of some of the top names in Tallahassee like Richard Corcoran, who, despite all his headline-making, is still widely unrecognizable among Republican voters.
The AIF poll found only 16 percent of Florida Republicans had a favorable view of the Land O’Lakes Republican, while 24 percent had no opinion at all. What’s worse for Corcoran, who is rumored to be eyeing a gubernatorial bid in 2018, is only 44 percent of those surveyed had a clue who he was.
Corcoran also slipped behind other candidates when matched up with other possible gubernatorial options in 2018. Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam topped the list of potential gubernatorial frontrunners, taking 22 percent of the vote while Corcoran took only four percent.
The survey of 800 likely Republican voters who have voted in at least one of the last three primary elections was conducted Feb. 14-17 and had a margin of error of +/-3.46 percent.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
