Florida political happenings

Parkland dad switches his allegiance; Hispanics backing Nelson and Gillum; Jimmy Buffet boosts campaign with concert.

new poll of Hispanic voters in Florida shows support for Democrats Bill Nelson and Andrew Gillum but also key splits in the Cuban and Puerto Rican communities.

In the Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy poll of 625 registered Hispanic voters from Oct. 25 to 30, Nelson led Gov. Rick Scott in the U.S. Senate race 54 to 39 percent, with his biggest leads in Central Florida with 71 percent and with 61 percent of Puerto Ricans.

Scott was slightly ahead of Nelson with Hispanics in more conservative Southwest Florida, 47 to 46 percent, and led with Cubans 65 to 29 percent.

Gillum led 51 to 40 over Republican Ron DeSantis with Hispanic voters in the governor’s race, with similar big margins in Central Florida and with Puerto Ricans, both 61 to 28 percent.

DeSantis, like Scott, also led with Cubans, 64 to 30 percent, and was near even with Gillum in Southwest Florida, 46 to 47 percent.

All four candidates were seen favorably by Florida Hispanics, though Scott’s and DeSantis’s favorability was in the 30s to Nelson and Gillum’s ratings in the 40s. President Trump was underwater with Florida Hispanics, 38 to 47.

Florida Hispanics said health care, jobs, the economy and immigration were the biggest issues facing the country.

While Florida HispanA ics were split on whether the country was on the right or wrong track, 44 to 46 percent, respectively, that question was looked at much differently by the Cuban and the Puerto Rican communities.

Sixty percent of Cubans thought the country was on the right track, but only 27 percent of Puerto Ricans did. In that community, 56 percent thought the country was on the wrong track while only 33 percent of Cubans did. Fifty-three percent of other Hispanics also said the country was moving in the wrong direction.

Similar splits between Cubans and other Hispanics were seen in questions about the health of the economy and whether they benefited from the GOP tax bill. Cubans were also the only group to support the Trump administration’s immigration policy, though all groups overwhelmingly supported extending the DACA program for Dreamers, those brought into the country illegally as children, and creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

All Hispanic groups and subgroups, meanwhile, supported the idea of “Medicare for All” – though a slight majority also supported the repeal of Obamacare.

The margin of error in the poll was 4 percentage points.