Senate race

Bill Nelson, Rick Scott tied in 2018 Senate race.

Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Florida is so close that incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson or his likely challenger, Gov. Rick Scott, could win.

A Florida Atlantic University poll scheduled for release Tuesday shows Democrat Nelson is the choice of 42 percent of the registered voters. Republican Scott is the pick of 40 percent.

Statistically that’s a tie, and provides more evidence that the Florida contest — one that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate — will be hard fought and expensive.

Nelson is seeking a fourth term. Scott, who can’t run again for governor because of term limits, hasn’t officially announced his intentions. The survey, conducted Friday through Saturday by FAU’s Business and Economics Polling Initiative, found that the other big 2018 election, for Florida governor, is exceedingly fluid.

Overwhelming shares of both parties’ voters — 47 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans — haven’t settled on candidates they hope their parties nominate. The primaries to pick candidates for governor are on Aug. 28, 2018. Several candidates are already running and several more may enter. “It is very early with many undecided voters,” Kevin Wagner, an FAU political scientist, said in a written analysis of the poll results.

Among the possibilities for the Republican nomination, Agriculture Commission Adam Putnam has 27 percent, Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran has 10 percent, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis has 9 percent, and state Sen. Jack Latvala has 2 percent.

Putnam and Latvala are officially candidates; Corcoran and DeSantis haven’t declared their intentions. Putnam, the best known Republican, is the only one to currently hold statewide office, and his name is listed on stickers on all of the state’s gasoline pumps.

Among Democrats, trial lawyer John Morgan has 19 percent, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham has 14 percent, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has 9 percent, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine has 8 percent and Central Florida businessman Chris King has 4 percent.

Graham, Gillum and King are officially in the race; Morgan and Levine are possible candidates. Two candidates are better known than the others. Morgan frequently appears in TV ads soliciting clients for lawsuits and Graham is the daughter of former U.S. senator and former Gov. Bob Graham.

Florida voters are divided about one potential issue in next year’s governor’s campaign: guns.

34 percent said people should never be allowed to carry handguns in a public place. Democrats strongly endorse this view, with 54 percent.

43 percent said people should be allowed to carry concealed handguns in public places as long as they are licensed. Republicans are the biggest supporters of this view, at 55 percent.

15 percent said they Floridians should be allowed to openly carry handguns in public places with a license, a view held by 21 percent of Republicans, 16 percent of no party affiliation/independent voters, and 9 percent of Democrats.

8 percent said Floridians should be allowed to carry handguns in public places without a license, with statistically small differences between party affiliations.

In recent years, the Legislature has considered socalled open carry, which has support of the politically potent National Rifle Association. Putnam, who has touted his NRA bona fides, has suggested he could support the idea.