New Quinnipiac University Poll Shows Voters Warming Up to Gov. Scott

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released today, some Florida voters are warming up a bit to Gov. Rick Scott.

While his numbers continue to be dismal—with voters disapproving 50 to 37 percent of the job he's doing—that is an improvement from the 52 to 35 percent overall disapproval rating of August 5 and the 57 to 29 percent disapproval rating of May 25.

Asked if they like the governor as a person, no matter how they feel about his policies, voters are now split 37 to 37 percent, compared to 45 to 34 percent in Quinnipiac's August 5 survey. Women are divided at 36 to 36 percent on liking Scott, compared to a 47 to 30 percent dislike in the August survey. Men are at 39 to 38 percent, virtually unchanged from 39 to 42 percent last month. 

On job approval, Republicans give Scott a 70 to 18 percent thumbs up, compared to 61 to 23 percent in August. Women disapprove 55 to 31 percent, compared to 58 to 30 percent last month. Not surprisingly, Democrats disapprove 82 to 8 percent compared to 78 to 14 last month. Independent voters disapprove 54 to 34 percent compared to 50 to 33 in August. 

Also, Florida voters now say 48 to 41 percent that Scott's budget is unfair to people like them, a slight improvement from August's 51 to 33 percent and May's 54 to 29 percent.

While voters split down the middle on Scott's personal rating, they say they do not like his policies by 53 to 35 percent. By 53 to 36 percent they say they do not approve of his handling of the state budget.

Florida voters support 71 to 27 percent a law requiring welfare recipients to pass drug tests. There are substantial partisan disagreements on this, but no gender gap. Republicans back the law 90 to 8 percent; independent voters approve 75 to 24 percent. Democrats split 49 to 50 percent. 

Despite these recent ratings improvements, Scott continues to be the least-popular state leader in the Quinnipiac surveys of the past two months.

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio does better than the governor among Florida voters. Rubio, in his first term in Washington, has a 49 to 31 percent approval rating, with positive scores of 81 to 10 percent among Republicans and 52 to 30 percent among independent voters. Democrats disapprove 52 to 19 percent. Rubio is experiencing a gender gap. He garners a 54 to 30 percent approval rating among men, but a 44 to 31 percent rating with women.

The telephone poll of 1,007 registered voters was conducted be from September 14 to 19. It has a margin of +/- 3.1 percentage points.