News/Commentary

Is Florida Senator Rick Scott’s seat really in danger?

August 14, 2024 | | Print Article

Democrats say Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, is in trouble going into the 2024 race, but general election polls say otherwise.

The rumor that Scott faces potential defeat come November stems from polling data from USA Today showing his approval rating in the dumps.

“The USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN survey of 500 likely voters showed that Scott is upside down with Florida voters, with the 71-year-old Republican viewed favorably by 35% of respondents and 49% showing disapproval,” according to the Florida Phoenix.

The data looks even worse when broken down by region: “He is at -1 in the Panhandle, -2 in North Florida, -22 in ‘East’ Florida, and -26 in South Florida,” Florida Politics notes.

Similarly, while only 28 percent of Florida women approve of Scott, a whopping 52 percent disapprove. His numbers are only slightly better with men, with 45 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving.

“Meanwhile, Scott is also underwater with all groups of voters under the age of 65, while treading water with senior citizens with 40% approval and 40% disapproval,” according to Florida Politics. “With those under 35, he is at 35% approval and 57% disapproval. He is at -19 with voters between 35 and 49 years of age and at the same level with those between 50 and 64.”

Scott is also viewed overwhelmingly negatively by Independent voters (28 percent approval, 57 percent disapproval) and by black voters (12 percent approval, 78 percent disapproval).

Scott’s election opponent, Democrat Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, is confident based on these numbers that she’s going to win.

“This is not the first poll that I’ve seen that Rick Scott is completely underwater,” she told the Phoenix. “People know who he is across the state, and that’s why they don’t want to vote for him.”

“The more money that he puts into this race with his face on television, the more people see him and remember who he is and don’t want to vote for him. I recommend another strategy for him at this point. His brand has become toxic. If there’s a Republican who’s going to lose in Florida, it’s Rick Scott,” she added.

She also said that the sitting senator’s approval rating is “embarrassingly low for an incumbent and former governor.”

There’s just one problem. While Florida voters may disapprove of Scott, they appear to disapprove of Mucarsel-Powell’s radicalism even more.

According to the latest McLaughlin & Associates poll, Scott is crushing Mucarsel-Powell by 10 whopping points. Meanwhile, polling averages maintained by RealClearPolitics show Scott ahead of her by an average of 5.2 percentage points.

But it gets worse.

“Mucarsel-Powell has never led in a single public opinion poll this year vs. Scott,” the Phoenix admits.

The Scott campaign clearly sees the writing on the wall.

“Every election, Florida Democrats say Rick Scott is in trouble, and every election they lose,” a Scott spokesperson told the paper. “Bring it on.”

Mucarsel-Powell for her part wishes more “national money” would be funneled into her campaign.

“Listen, those investments never hurt, but what I can tell you is that because Florida has been losing our freedoms, our rights, it’s becoming harder and harder to live here, we have an affordability crisis,” she said. “There is this energy on the ground that I’ve been seeing and feeling for months now.”

“This is since I filed to run, and we have been doing the groundwork to be in front of as many people as possible. I haven’t put the money in as massively the way that Rick Scott has been, and it shows you that this is not going to be a race where Rick Scott puts 10 times more money than I do. I mean, I do believe people now know him. They don’t want to vote for Rick Scott, even Republicans. This poll shows that,” she added.

FYI, Florida is one of the freest states in the entire country, according to the Cato Institute. It appears therefore that the only reason Mucarsel-Powell thinks Florida isn’t a free state is because Florida voters keep down-voting her party and its ridiculous, backward policies.

Vivek Saxena
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