Staff Reports
President Donald Trump‘s job approval rating is split 48-49 percent among Florida registered voters, “higher than how he performed nationally,” according to a new POLITICO/AARP poll released Tuesday.
That rating was 43 percent approving and 52 percent disapproving, said Tyler Sinclair, managing director of client services at Morning Consult, which conducted both polls. Sinclair and others discussed the poll results in a conference call.
And older Floridians, specifically voters age 50 and over, “are more likely to give Trump higher marks” — 51 percent approve the way he handles the presidency and 44 percent disapprove.
The poll “surveyed 1,199 Florida voters on May 29-30 and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percentage points,” a news release explained. “For voters 50 and older, the poll surveyed 676 Florida voters and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus four percentage points.”
In the U.S. Senate matchup between term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott and incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson, they’re “virtually neck and neck,” with Scott polling at 40 percent and Nelson at 39 percent. Importantly, 21 percent said they “haven’t made up their mind yet.”
Older Floridians are more likely to vote for Scott, by 44 percent-35 percent, according to the poll.
In other topics, 76 percent overall said health care was their No. 1 issue in deciding on a candidate, with Social Security at 73 percent. National security was most important to 70 percent of interviewees, and the economy polled at 69 percent.
Unsurprisingly, older Florida voters said Social Security was their “top policy issue,” at 82 percent, with health care coming in at 78 percent.
The poll comes soon after AARP released its 7th Annual Legislative Voting Record for Florida, showing how lawmakers voted in the 2018 Session “on issues of interest to older Floridians.”
The voting record provides information about legislative votes based on broad topics, such as regulated utilities, the state budget, health care and supportive services, prescription drugs, consumer protections and livable communities.
The complete version of the 2018 voting record can be viewed and downloaded here.
AARP is the “nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with nearly 38 million members, dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age,” the group’s website says.
