Nelson’s narrow lead with Florida Latinos worries Democrats

By Politico

By Marc Caputo

Sen. Bill Nelson holds a narrow 44-41 percent lead over Gov. Rick Scott among Latino voters in Florida’s Senate race, according to a new poll that’s raising fresh concerns among Democrats that the incumbent is in a dicey position with a core group of voters he needs to carry by bigger margins.

The poll of 400 Florida Hispanics, commissioned by a coalition of Democratic-leaning Latino outreach groups, showed that Scott topped Nelson among Cuban-American voters, who tend to vote Republican, by 24 percentage points. But Nelson’s advantage over Scott among Puerto Ricans, who tend to vote Democrat, was smaller: 7 points.

For Democrats, those numbers are a problem because a Republican who wins as much of the Hispanic vote as Scott is taking usually wins statewide in Florida. Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the survey by 40-33 percent.

[…]

According to the poll, 78 percent said the “current situation in the U.S. motivating them to vote,” 65 percent said they’re more likely to register others to vote, 45 percent said they’ll attend political functions, and 44 percent said they would get involved more in political campaigns.

The error margin for the survey, conducted by Global Strategy Group between July 30 and Aug. 5, is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Focus groups and other surveys show Scott might have a major weakness with non-Cuban Hispanic voters, who tend to vote Democrat: President Donald Trump.

By 58-28 percent, Hispanic voters in the new survey said Trump hasn’t done enough to help welcome Puerto Ricans to Florida after Hurricane Maria. The feeling is particularly acute among Puerto Rican voters in Florida, but Cuban-Americans also share the sentiment.

When it comes to Scott, 41 percent of respondents said he has done enough to welcome Puerto Ricans to the state, compared to 33 percent who say Nelson had done enough.

Scott made inroads with the Boricua community soon after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. He opened welcome centers in Florida for evacuees, visited them frequently, stood by Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, advertised in Spanish and snared the endorsement of the island’s secretary of state and its nonvoting member of Congress.

To read the complete Politico article, click here.