Voters Want Rick Scott Gone as Democrat Charlie Crist Opens an 8 Point Lead In Florida

In the most recent Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday, Florida voters continued to voice their displeasure for current Republican Governor Rick Scott. Former Governor Charlie Crist, who is running again, this time as a Democrat, leads Scott by eight points, 46-38. In a PPP poll released earlier this month, Crist only held a 2-point lead. Overall, this most recent poll offered nothing but bad news for the Scott camp.

Florida voters approve of the job Crist did in his previous stint as Governor, as they gave him an approval rating of 53%, with only 36% disapproving of the job he did. On the other hand, Scott only has a 41% approval rating. Even worse for him, 54% of voters feel he does not deserve a second term. On favorability, Scott scored a net negative of seven points while Crist was well above water, with voters giving him a net positive of 9 percent.

Scott is struggling with pretty much every block of voters other than old, white Republican men. Crist has overwhelming support from the black and Hispanic communities, as he enjoys a 26-point advantage with Hispanics and he is ahead with black voters by 66 points. Independents prefer Crist 48-32 while the gender gap is almost insurmountable for Scott, as Crist is ahead by 16 points. Moderate voters prefer Crist by an amazing 32 points.

Scott does lead with white voters, but only by a seven point margin. Men are equally split. The only age group where Scott has an advantage is with senior citizens, and even then, it isn’t by a whole lot, as he only leads 48-41. And when it comes to major issues for the state’s voters, Crist leads Scott across the board. Voters trust Crist over Scott by double-digit margins on issues such as health care, protecting the middle class and education.

Considering the huge gaps with most of the voting blocks in the state, and his overall unpopularity, it is starting to feel like a foregone conclusion that Scott will be looking for a new job come November.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).