Florida Senate: Nelson (D) 47%, Mack (R) 40%

Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson still leads Republican Connie Mack in Florida's hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Sunshine State finds Nelson with 47% support to Mack’s 40%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, while eight percent (8%) are undecided.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The latest findings show no change from mid-August. Florida remains Leans Democrat in the Rasmussen Reports Senate Balance of Power rankings. Nelson was first elected to the Senate in 2006 to fill the seat vacated by Mack’s father. 

President Obama has now moved slightly ahead in the presidential race in Florida despite the presence of the Republican National Convention in Tampa late last month. But Florida remains a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections.

Nelson is viewed favorably by 51% of Florida voters and unfavorably by 38%. This includes 21% with a Very Favorable opinion and 20% with a Very Unfavorable one. 

For Mack, favorables are 40% and unfavorables 48%, including 17% with a Very Favorable view of him and 24% with a Very Unfavorable one. This marks little change for either man from a month ago.

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The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Florida was conducted on September 12, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Nelson holds a slight 47% to 46% edge over Mack among male voters but has a larger 47% to 34% advantage among female voters. 

Senior citizens favor Mack, while those who are younger tend to support Nelson. 

Mack draws support from 76% of Republicans, while 82% of Florida Democrats like Nelson.  Among voters not affiliated with either political party, Nelson is ahead 45% to 31%.  But 23% of these voters either favor another candidate in the race or are undecided. 

Forty-three percent (43%) of all Florida voters now approve of the job Republican Governor Rick Scott is doing, but 51% disapprove. This includes 18% who Strongly Approve and 34% who Strongly Disapprove. This, too, is little changed from a month ago.

Elections for 33 U.S. Senate seats will be held in November. See the latest numbers in Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio,  Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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