As Florida’s economy continues to recover, voters feel better about the Sunshine State’s future and Gov. Rick Scott’s policies, a new poll shows.
The Florida Chamber Political Institute released a poll of likely voters Tuesday which shows Scott above water with 48 percent of those surveyed approving of him while 39 percent disapprove. Scott, who has been backed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, has been doing better in polls since winning a second term last year.
A plurality of voters -- 44 percent -- think Florida is headed in the right direction but 37 percent say the state is on the wrong track. Half of Republicans -- 50 percent -- think Florida is on the right path, while 26 percent say it’s on the wrong one. Almost half of voters outside the major parties -- 49 percent -- say Florida is headed in the right direction, but 34 percent say it’s going the wrong way. Democrats are far less cheerful about where Florida is headed: 49 percent of them think it’s going on the wrong path; 35 percent think it’s on the right track.
Asked what the most important issue in Florida is, around a quarter -- 24 percent -- say it’s the economy and jobs. Education is seen as the most important issue by 13 percent, while 9 percent say it’s health-care and 6 percent point to immigration.
After falling short last year, a proposed state constitution amendment allowing more medical marijuana use has the support of 67 percent of those surveyed while 27 percent are against it. But Amendment 2 on medical marijuana started off strong in the polls in 2014 and failed to make the 60 percent threshold to pass on the November ballot.
The poll of 605 likely Florida voters was taken from Sept. 16-Sept. 20 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
