Over 100,000 Puerto Rican’s have relocated from their home island due Hurricane Maria….
Democrats should be happy if the displaced vote for the same party they favor back home…
But a new poll aimed at them is sounding alarm bells for Democrats….
Florida Democratic US Senator Bill Nelson is far behind Republican Governor Scott in the poll looking at November’s US Senate vote…
Nelson needs to get his act together and reach out his campaign….
Joe Crowley’s defeat is a warning….
And Democrats need Nelson’s seat….
Gov. Rick Scott is better-known and better-liked than Sen. Bill Nelson among Puerto Ricans in Florida, according to a new poll that spells trouble for the incumbent as this Democratic-leaning group leans toward the Republican challenger ahead of the November election.
About 75 percent have a good opinion of Scott, while just 18 percent do not, according to the poll of 1,000 Puerto Ricans in the state commissioned by Florida International University.
Only 7 percent didn’t know enough about Scott to hazard an opinion of him — a sign the governor’s seven trips to Puerto Rico and his aggressive campaigning welcoming evacuees from the island after Hurricane Maria have paid dividends.
Nelson’s numbers: 62 percent favor him, 26 percent don’t and 13 percent don’t know enough to voice an opinion, the poll shows.
Calculated another way, Scott’s net approval rating is 57 percent and Nelson’s is 36 percent among Puerto Ricans. So the Republican is running ahead of the Democrat by about 21 percentage points.
The numbers are even more striking because 57 percent of the poll’s respondents say they’re registered as Democrats; only 12 percent are Republicans. And almost 57 percent said they would vote for a generic Democrat while only 7 percent would vote for an unnamed Republican.
“This is not necessarily the best news for Democrats,” FIU professor Eduardo Gamarra — who analyzed the survey data along with his colleague, Jorge Duany — told POLITICO. “It’s not necessarily ideological. I think they thought this man [Scott] was genuinely interested in their well-being.”….
image of Sen. Nelson and Gov Scott…CNN
FL-Sen: Gov. Rick Scott (R) has a slim lead on Sen. Bill Nelson (D) in a new Florida Atlantic University poll. The 44-40 lead for Scott is identical to the numbers from their last poll in May. Recent polls have shown a close race with different leaders, with NBC News/Marist and Gravis showing Nelson ahead and CBS News/Yougov and FAU showing Scott ahead…..
RHH Elections….