Joe Biden | Getty Images Poll: Biden has edge over Trump in Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Joe Biden is the only Democrat who presents “serious competition” to President Donald Trump in Florida, according to a poll released Tuesday.

The Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy survey of registered Florida voters showed Biden with a narrow 47-45 lead over the president, within the 4 percentage-point margin of error.


Biden was the only candidate from either political party with a positive approval rating in the crucial battleground state. Forty-five percent of respondents had a favorable view of the former vice president; 41 percent had a negative view.

Trump had a 46 percent approval rating. Forty-seven percent of respondents disapproved of the president’s job performance, the poll found.

Among registered voters surveyed, Trump easily bested Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren 51-42 and held comfortable leads over Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (49-44) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (49-45).

Sanders was the least popular candidate among those surveyed. Just 35 percent of registered voters said they had a favorable opinion of him, while 52 percent had a negative opinion. Warren was also viewed unfavorably (37-48), as was Buttigieg (32-38).

Pollsters conducted interviews with 625 registered voters in the state between Dec. 11-16.

The poll did not include Democratic candidates Mike Bloomberg, hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar or Andrew Yang.

To date, only Warren and Biden have meaningful campaign footprints in Florida. Biden vacuumed up early legislative endorsements and Warren has been staffing up in the Sunshine State.

Bloomberg this month made his first round of Florida hires, naming Brandon Davis his Florida state director. Davis is a former chief of staff at the Democratic National Committee and led Democrat Andrew Gillum’s failed 2018 bid for Florida governor.

Bloomberg and Steyer have been running early ads in Florida.