Michael Moline
Hillary Clinton enjoyed a slim lead over Donald Trump in a Public Policy Polling survey of Florida voters released Thursday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio extended his lead over Democrat Patrick Murphy in their race to seven points when respondents were asked to choose between the two and Libertarian Paul Stanton.
Rubio pulled 42 percent support compared to 35 percent for Murphy and 9 percent for Stanton, with 15 percent undecided.
In a head-to-head match between Rubio and Murphy, the Republican leads 47-44 percent, with 9 percent undecided.
In the presidential race, Clinton pulled 45 percent support compared to 43 percent for Trump, 3 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson, and 1 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
In a head-to-head match, Clinton led Trump, 48-45 percent.
The survey of 826 likely voters was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday on behalf of VoteVets.org Action Fund with a plus-or-minus 3.4 percent margin of error.
Public Policy Polling surveyed voters in five battleground states and found solid leads for Clinton in Colorado (46-40 percent in a four-way match), Pennsylvania (45-39 percent) and Virginia (46-40 percent).
She enjoyed a modest lead in North Carolina (44-42 percent in a four-way contest).
“If these results hold up, Donald Trump has no path to victory,” Public Policy Director Tom Jensen said in a written statement.
Among the Floridians surveyed, 52 percent thought Clinton won Monday night’s debate, compared to 35 percent for Trump. The other states surveyed returned roughly similar results.
Clinton picked up support among voters under 30; they favored her over Trump by 64-23 percent.
Among women, 59 percent viewed Trump unfavorably compared to 49 percent for Clinton. Among men, half said they didn’t care for Trump. Forty-seven percent of women chose Clinton in a four-way match, as did 42 percent of men. Trump enjoyed 50 percent support among men.
Asked whether Trump was prepared to be president, 55 percent of the Florida respondents said no; whether he has the temperament to hold that office, 53 percent said no; and whether he could be trusted with nuclear weapons, 52 percent said no.
Half thought Clinton was prepared for the office; 51 percent thought she has the right temperament, and 49 percent would trust her with nuclear weapons.
In Florida’s U.S. Senate race, Rubio led even though most respondents, 52 percent, disapproved of his job performance; 32 percent approved and 16 percent weren’t sure.
Murphy, who has represented Florida’s 18th Congressional District since 2013, was also underwater in this regard: 35 percent viewed him unfavorably and 27 favorably, with 38 percent unsure.
Respondents were asked whether they favored a proposal in Congress to privatize Veterans Affairs benefits via a voucher system. Only 10 percent in Florida strongly supported the idea. Seventeen percent were somewhat in favor; 18 percent somewhat opposed; 43 percent strongly opposed; 12 percent were not sure.
