The polling company Rasmussen Reports is saying Republican Congressman Connie Mack draws his highest level of support yet against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in Florida’s 2012 U.S. Senate race.
The telephone survey of likely voters shows Mack earning 46% of the vote to Nelson’s 37%. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate, and 10% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The numbers were flipped back in April when Nelson held a 47% to 36% lead over Mack. At that time, Mack still had heavy competition for the GOP nomination and was being heavily criticized for a lackluster campaign. The contest was closer in earlier surveys.
This race is now considered "Leans Republican" in the Rasmussen Reports Senate Balance of Power. Elections for 33 U.S. Senate seats will be held in November, and Democrats have more than twice as many seats they now hold at stake compared to seats with Republican incumbents.
Mack is expected to easily win the Republican primary on August 14. Nelson was elected to the Senate in 2000 to fill the seat vacated by Mack’s father.
Florida, with its large number of retirees, has consistently registered high opposition to President Obama’s national health care law and was one of the leaders in the recent unsuccessful constitutional challenge of the law before the U.S. Supreme Court. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Florida voters favor repeal of the health care law, while 36% oppose repeal. These findings include 44% who Strongly Support the law’s repeal and 29% who are Strongly Opposed. These findings are similar to those measured nationally.
Mack earns 85% of the vote from those who Strongly Favor repeal. Nelson gets 78% support from the smaller group of voters Strongly Opposed to repeal.
