He has the support of 53% of surveyed voters.

Mucarsel-Powell, the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for Senate, has 36%. The rest are undecided or said they’d vote for another candidate.

Scott, who is a former Florida governor, has a commanding lead among men, 62% to 33%. It’s closer among women, 44% to 39%.

Overwhelming majorities of Democrats said they’d vote for Mucarsel-Powell. Republicans favored Scott.

Wagner said the Scott/Mucarsel-Powell results are consistent with the way Florida voters are choosing between Democrats and Republicans.

Scott has an advantage but it’s too early to “put this race to bed,” Wagner said.

“Rick Scott has the strength of the Republican brand in a state that’s trending Republican, running against somebody that many people are not familiar with,” he said. “It’s certainly possible for this to tighten, but it’s not a good starting point for Mucarsel-Powell.”

Mucarsel-Powell has been attempting to mobilize support among people who favor abortion rights. She’s highlighting Scott’s opposition to abortion and touting her support including her backing of the proposed referendum that would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.

On Tuesday, the campaign arm for U.S. Senate Democrats and the Florida Democratic Party highlighted planned advertising in the Scott/Mucarsel-Powell race worth seven figures. The Florida effort is just a fraction of the $79 million, nine-state plan announced that day.

Scott, who is one of the wealthiest senators and has spent his own money heavily in previous campaigns, has already announced a seven-figure ad buy — aimed just at the state’s Hispanic voters.

It unveiled the third spot, “Socialismo,” on Thursday, asserting that Democrats are pushing the country toward socialism.

In her news conference on Thursday, Mucarsel-Powell continued to stress her support for abortion rights and Scott’s opposition.

“Floridians are not going to forget that he wants to take away all of our freedoms. He can’t lie away his radical record. Floridians are ready to finally hold him accountable, and I’m going to be standing right beside them every step of the way,” she said.

Mucarsel-Powell declined to comment about the poll’s findings, which she said she hadn’t seen in detail. “But polls go up and down. We’re seven months (until) the election,” she said. By November, she added, “most of the state will know who I am, will know that they have a choice, and I know I’m going to win.”

Congress

Another indication of the state’s continued Republican tilt is the so-called congressional ballot test. The poll asked voters if the election for Congress were held today, which party they’d choose, a question that doesn’t include names of candidates.

Among Florida likely voters, 47% they’d vote Republican for Congress and 39% said Democratic.

Fine print

The poll of 865 Florida voters was conducted April 15 through April 17 by Mainstreet Research for Florida Atlantic University’s PolCom Lab, which is a collaboration of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies and Department of Political Science.

The survey used text messages to reach registered voters who responded to a link to complete the survey online and used automated phone calls to reach other voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full survey of Democrats, Republicans and independents. The margin of error for smaller groups, such as Republicans or Democrats, or men and women, is higher because the sample sizes are smaller.

_____

©2024 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.