Republican Representative Byron Donalds held a 4-point lead over Democrat David Jolly in a new poll of the Florida governor’s race published by The New York Times and Siena University, a top-rated pollster, less than one week until the midterm elections. Donalds’ support stood at 48 percent, compared to Jolly’s 44 percent, in the new poll on Thursday. The poll also gave Republican Senator Ashley Moody a 6-point edge over Democrat Angie Nixon.
Republicans have established a consistent polling lead in Florida, despite Democrats’ hopes of making a comeback in the former battleground that drifted rightward over the past decade. Democrats had hoped to make Florida competitive this year as President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen nationwide amid economic concerns around the cost of living. Historically, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterms, and polling suggests Democrats are competitive in more conservative states this year but signals that Florida may be a tougher lift.
The midterms will test whether they can gain back ground in the state. The new poll comes as Donald Trump Jr. is set to join Donalds at a rally in Hialeah, a city outside of Miami with a high Cuban American population, on Thursday, just days before voters will make their pick in the critical Florida elections. Republicans are hoping to convince their voters to head to the polls and avoid losses.
President Trump is also set to hold a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday as he traverses the nation to build enthusiasm among the conservative base. Newsweek reached out to each of their campaigns for comment via email. The poll gave Donalds a lead over Jolly, but the Democratic candidate did hold a lead among independent voters, 52 percent to 35 percent, according to the Times.
Jolly won 6 percent of Republicans, compared to 4 percent of Democrats who said they would vote for Donalds. Donalds is generally more well known in the state, with only 22 percent saying they were unsure of how they felt about or had not heard of him. Meanwhile, 34 percent said they hadn’t heard of or didn’t know how they felt about Jolly.
Overall, 36 percent of respondents viewed Jolly positively, while 30 percent viewed him negatively, the poll found. For Donalds, 44 percent viewed him favorably and 34 percent viewed him unfavorably. Donalds represents Florida’s 19th District in Congress, based around southwest Florida.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
