Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Sen. Marco Rubio has a narrow lead over Rep. Patrick Murphy, according to a new poll of likely Florida voters.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 40 percent of likely voters said they were backing Rubio in the U.S. Senate race, while 38 percent picked Murphy. The poll found 12 percent of voters either didn’t know or refused to say and 6 percent said they were voting for someone else.
Murphy has the support from 74 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of independent voters. The survey found 6 percent of Republicans said they were backing him.
Rubio, the poll found, has the backing of 79 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of independent voters. He also has support from across the aisle, with support from 13 percent of likely Democratic voters.
The online poll of 1,532 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 5 through Oct. 12.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll is in line with other recent surveys, which showed a tight race between the two men. According to RealClearPolitics, Rubio has an average 3.4 percentage point lead over Murphy.
The two men are scheduled to meet Wednesday for their second debate of the election cycle. The one-hour televised debate, hosted by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association, kicks off at 7 p.m. at Broward College in Davie. The debate will be broadcast in each of Florida’s 11 media markets and simulcast on Florida Public Radio member stations.
