Bill Nelson, Rick Scott deadlocked at 47% according to latest poll of race for Florida’s U.S Senate seat

Nelson Scott Blue 2

New polling verifies Florida’s U.S. Senate fight as one of the tightest in the nation, with Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican Rick Scott virtually tied.

But even in a politically divided state, a substantial majority still favors legal medical marijuana use.

A survey by St. Pete Polls commissioned for Florida Politics finds both candidates at about 47 percent; in fact, it shows Nelson with just a tenth of a percentage point edge — well within the 2.3 percent margin of error.

And there’s little space for either side to grow, with just 5 percent of voters surveyed still undecided.

Nelson, a three-term U.S. Senator, faces the toughest fight since his 2000 election to the Senate in a challenge from two-term Gov. Scott, who so far has spent almost $28 million campaigning, while the incumbent spent a little more than $6 million.

But there is one issue where voters feel more aligned: The legal use of marijuana for medical purposes.

And that could spell problems down the road for Scott.

Florida Politics this week launches a collaboration with the medical marijuana advocacy group Empowering Wellness and will roll out a week’s worth of exclusive polling, data and analysis. That includes asking the same voters surveyed in the Senate race their thoughts on medicinal cannabis.

St. Pete Polls found 74 percent of likely voters in the survey favor allowing the use of medical marijuana if approved by a doctor, with 20 percent in disagreement and another 5 percent unsure

Additionally, 66 percent believe patients should be allowed to smoke the product, with 24 percent opposed to the practice and 11 percent unsure.

As for Scott, 45 percent of the voters in the poll disapprove of the way the governor has handled the implementation of Florida’s medical marijuana law, while just 30 percent approve. Another 26 percent were unsure.

And when pollsters informed those surveyed that Scott had opposed medical marijuana and his administration delayed its implementation significantly, the results got worse, with 49 percent of voters saying they were less likely to support his Senate run.

Another 37 percent said the news made them more likely to vote for Scott while another 15 percent said they were uncertain how they felt.

Some 71 percent of Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing medical cannabis in 2016.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


2 comments

  • Art Vandalay

    September 6, 2018 at 1:06 pm

    Rick Scott supports nothing but Rick Scott. He deliberately delayed and hamstrung the MMJ program, installing a cronyism hire by the name of Christian Bax to ensure the program would fail. And it has. Rick Scott does the bidding of Big Pharma and his corporate benefactors. I hope he LOSES.

  • Ted Scardina

    September 8, 2018 at 7:02 am

    Look at what Scott has done to the states EPA agency and the results of all those cuts have done to our environment our wildlife our water have been devastating and he’s made millions upon millions of dollars in the process. He’s an evil man that cares only about Rick Scott..

Comments are closed.


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