Half of Floridians approve of Donald Trump’s performance
Just over half of Florida voters approve of President Donald Trump’s performance — but that doesn’t mean they want the state’s next U.S. senator to be a lackey for the president.
Trump’s approval among Florida voters stands at 52 percent in the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker poll of Florida voters, with 48 percent disapproving.
But just 36 percent want the senator they elect in November to be someone who “tries to support Donald Trump as much as they can.”
Most voters want at least some measure of independence.
Among surveyed voters, 20 percent said they wanted a senator who is “conservative but independent from Donald Trump at times” and 20 percent wanted someone who is “progressive but tries to work with Donald Trump at times.”
Flat-out opposition — a senator who “tries to oppose Donald Trump was much as they can” — was the goal for 24 percent of Florida voters.
The numbers come from a poll of Florida voters conducted June 19-22. The CBS News Battleground Tracker in Florida is among a series of polls conducted by YouGov, an online polling company. The latest interviewed 1,002 registered Florida voters.
Respondents came from YouGov’s online panel representing registered voters by race, gender and education and weighted for presidential vote and political party identification. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, which means an answer of 50 percent would be statistically in a range of 46 percent to 54 percent.
The poll found a close race between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and his opponent, Republican Gov. Rick Scott. They’re effectively tied, with 42 percent for Scott and 40 percent for Nelson.
The rest wanted someone else or weren’t decided.
Scott, who can’t run again because of term limits, was early supporter of Trump’s presidential candidacy and Trump was an early booster of a Scott Senate candidacy, although the governor has muted his public comments about the president as he’s attempted to broaden his appear for the context with Nelson.
The Democratic incumbent critic of many Trump policies.
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