One Year from 2018 Florida Primary, FAU Poll Shows Tight Race for U.S. Senate, Most Voters Undecided on Governor

BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the 2018 state primary election now one year away, voters in Florida give a slight edge to Sen. Bill Nelson over current Gov. Rick Scott in a hypothetical matchup in the U.S. Senate race. Voters, however, are still widely undecided on the candidates vying to be the state's next governor, according to a statewide survey by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI). 

Nelson has a slim 42-40 percent lead over Scott, who has set up a political action committee ahead of a likely run for Nelson's seat.

A majority of Republicans (53 percent) in the survey said they are undecided on their choice to succeed Scott as governor. Adam Putnam, Florida's commissioner of agriculture, has distanced himself from the rest of the GOP field, with 27 percent of those surveyed supporting him, compared to 10 percent for House Speaker Richard Corcoran, 9 percent for Congressman Ron DeSantis and just 2 percent for Jack Latvala, a member of the Florida Senate.

The race is wide open among Democrats, with activist and attorney John Morgan leading with 19 percent, compared to 14 percent for former U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Graham, 9 percent for Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum and 8 percent for Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine. Over 47 percent of Democratic voters polled are undecided.

U.S. President Donald Trump's job approval rating stands at 37 percent. 

Nearly half of the respondents (49 percent) said that statues honoring leaders of the Confederacy should remain in public places, while 30 percent said they should be removed and 21 percent were unsure.

Asked what limitations, if any, should be placed on carrying handguns, 43 percent said Floridians should be allowed to carry a concealed handgun in a public place with a license, while more than one-third of respondents (34 percent) said Floridians should never be allowed to carry a handgun in a public place.

The survey, which polled 800 Florida registered voters between Aug. 24-26, was conducted using online questionnaires and via an automated telephone platform (IVR). The survey has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points (the margin of error for either the Democratic or Republican primary was +/- 6.5 percentage points).

SOURCE Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative