by Steve Wilson
A poll released by Florida Atlantic University shows former President Donald Trump with a big lead in the presidential race and also has good news for incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.
The poll of 913 registered voters by the Florida Atlantic University Political Communication and Public Opinion Research Lab and Mainstreet Research USA shows Trump with 53%, with 44% going for Vice President Kamala Harris and only 2% undecided.
That is ahead of where Trump was in 2020, when he carried the state’s 29 electoral votes with nearly 5.7 million casting ballots for him or 51.22% of the total. In 2016, when he took the state, he received 4.6 million votes or 49%.
The poll also shows Scott with a four-point advantage over Democratic candidate and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Scott has 50% support in the poll, with 46% for Mucarsel-Powell and only 3% undecided.
That’s about the same margin Scott received in 2018, when he defeated former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson 50.1%-49.9%.
All four major race rating outlets – The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Decision Desk HQ/The Hill – are predicting a Scott victory. Three of them have the race as likely Republican and only one, Decision Desk, is less bullish at lean Republican.
The Florida Atlantic poll was conducted between Oct. 19 and Sunday. The margin of error is +/- 3.2%.
Support remains divided on the two contentious ballot initiatives. Amendment 3, which would enshrine recreational marijuana in the state constitution, has 60% approval, which would be enough to put it into the state’s guiding document. Opposition is at 34% with 6% undecided.
Amendment 4, which would place abortion rights into the constitution, is 2% short of the margin needed at 58%, with 32% opposed and 11% undecided.
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Steve Wilson has been an award-winning writer and editor for nearly 20 years at newspapers in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi and is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and University of Alabama graduate. Wilson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Rick Scott and Donald Trump” by Rick Scott.
