A new poll conducted by the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling shows Florida Governor Rick Scott, with a 31 percent approval rating, is less popular amongst Floridians than the highly polarizing Miami Heat star LeBron James, who pips Scott with a 32 percent rating.
If Scott’s poor approval rating wasn’t enough, the new poll also shows he is 12 points behind the first declared Democratic candidate for the 2014 governor’s race, State Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich, who holds a 47 to 35 lead in a hypothetical race. Even worse, Rich has only 14 percent name recognition amongst Floridians, “giving credibility to the theory that literally anyone could beat Scott in 2014,” the report writes.
Scott’s 31 percent approval rating is not the worse he has polled—in December he was the least popular governor in the country with a 26 percent approval rating. LeBron’s favorability is up from 22 percent last July.
The poll also shows that, like Obama and voters in several other states, some Florida voters have undergone an evolution on their gay marriage views. Support for legalizing same sex marriage has grown by 5 points since last October, though same-sex marriage opponents still lead supporters 45 to 42 percent. The state has both a law and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
