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Poll: Nelson 61, Harris 33
Sen. Bill Nelson is still way ahead of Rep. Katherine Harris in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.
Among likely voters, the poll found Nelson leading Harris 61 percent to 33 percent with 6 percent undecided.
If there was a ray of hope for Harris it was that 18 percent of likely voters said they could change their minds before the election.
Nelson’s lead among all registered voters was slightly less, at 56 - 31 with 11 percent undecided. Nelson’s margin among all registered voters has declined since late July when he led 61 - 24.
Harris still has a wide lead over Nelson among GOP voters, 67 - 27, but Democrats are even more solidly behind Nelson, 85 - 10. Independent voters also overwhelmingly support Nelson, 65 percent to 26 percent.
“Congresswoman Harris has made some progress in her race against Sen. Nelson, but with four weeks until the election, it isn’t nearly enough to make her a serious threat to the incumbent,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a news release.
“Floridians, by almost a two-to-one margin, still view her unfavorably — an indication of just how difficult a task she faces. In order to win, she’ll have to convince Floridians she is not who they think she is,” Brown continued.
The poll found that only 20 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Harris, while 37 percent were unfavorable, 16 percent were mixed and 26 percent and said they hadn’t heard enough to form an opinion.
Women were toughest on Harris, with 40 percent of female voters giving her an unfavorable rating. Only 16 percent of women gave her a favorable rating.
Overall, Nelson received a 31 percent favorable rating compared to 12 percent unfavorable, 19 percent mixed and 38 percent who hadn’t heard enough to form an opinion. Nelson received a 31 percent favorable rating from women, and 24 percent unfavorable. He had a 29 percent favorable rating from men, and 17 percent unfavorable.
Despite Nelson’s lead, Brown said that “for a politician who has held statewide office for more than a decade, Sen. Nelson’s profile is surprisingly fuzzy. Four in 10 voters say they need to know more about him before they can decide if they view him favorably or unfavorably.”
“But it doesn’t matter because Congresswoman Harris is so weak. She is losing a quarter of the Republican vote and more than 60 percent of the independent vote and getting only half of the white evangelical vote — a recipe for electoral disaster for a Republican in Florida,” Brown said.
Among likely voters, the poll — conducted between Oct. 3 and Oct. 5 — had a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
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