Staff Reports
Rick Scott drew positive reviews from Floridians on the job he is doing as governor, with a plurality agreeing that the state is headed in the right direction, in a survey released Monday by Scott’s Let’s Get to Work Committee.
In the survey of 1,000 likely Florida voters conducted in December, 47 percent thought Florida was on the right track and 40 percent on the wrong path. By contrast, 53 percent thought the country as a whole was on the wrong track.
More than half — 54 percent — approved of Scott’s job performance, with 42 percent disapproving.
The respondents mirrored the state’s vote for president, with 46 percent having voted for Hillary Clinton and 48 percent for Donald Trump. Cellphone respondents accounted for 30 percent of the sample.
The committee is a political fundraising organization tied to Scott.
Asked which issue they considered most important, the largest group said the economy, at 29 percent. Twelve percent said the environment. Respondents across the political spectrum agreed that the economy was their No. 1 priority.
Scott’s proposal to invest $85 million in Enterprise Florida drew support from 59 percent of the respondents. Thirty-four percent were opposed. House Speaker Richard Corcoran strongly opposes the program as “corporate welfare.”
The survey asked whether respondents favored using the incentive program to “grow Florida’s economy and add jobs by using state funds to encourage businesses to relocate to Florida and expand in Florida.”
Respondents also were asked about Trump’s recent jawboning to induce the Carrier Corp. to keep jobs in Indiana, even at the cost of tax breaks and other inducements, and 55 percent approved.
Among “split voters,” 71 percent approved, and among “swing market Trumpers,” 84 percent approved.
“A strong majority of 55 percent agree with Rick Scott that it was smart of Donald Trump to support government incentives to get a major Indiana company to keep jobs in the United States,” the organization said.
“Only 37 percent agree with Richard Corcoran that government should not provide incentives to keep jobs here.”
Asked about “Obamacare” — the Affordable Care Act — 42 percent strongly opposed the health care reform, and 27 percent were strongly in favor. Among Republicans, 73 percent strongly opposed the law.
Among Democrats, half were strongly in favor; among independents, 44 percent were strongly opposed and 17 percent strongly in favor.
Among “split voters,” 64 percent were strongly opposed, and among “swing market Trumpers” 77 percent were strongly opposed.
Respondents were asked about “same-day voter registration efforts being pushed by liberal Democrats” — and given a choice between boosting access to the ballot and opening the door “to fraud and abuse because ballots would automatically be counted without time for officials to verify” the registrations.
Sixty-two percent were opposed, and 30 percent were in favor — with 48 percent of Democrats opposed, 57 percent of independents, and 79 percent of Republicans.
Finally, asked about proposed legislation to create “sanctuary” college campuses that would hinder enforcement of immigration law, 63 percent were opposed, and 28 percent were in favor.
