TOPLINE RESULTS PRESS RELEASE

DeSantis and Putnam in dead heat for GOP nomination, Graham leads Democratic field

Gov. Scott continues to hold advantage over Sen. Nelson in US Senate race

Republican Primary for Governor

A new FAU BEPI poll finds a statistical tie in the Republican primary between US Representative Ron DeSantis at 32% and Agriculture Commissioner/former Rep. Adam Putnam at 31%. In addition, no other candidate is over 5% while 22% were undecided. (n=222, margin of error is +/-6.5 percentage points). This is a tightening of the race from July, where DeSantis looked to be pulling ahead of Putnam 36% to 27%.

Democratic Primary for Governor

In the Democratic primary for Governor, former Rep. Gwen Graham has watched her share of the vote grow from 15% in May to 20% in July and in August at 29%. Her main rival is Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine who has not seen his numbers move much in the race which is at 17%. Andrew Gillum and Jeff Greene are tied for third at 11% and 10% of Democratic primary voters are voting for Christopher King. 19% were undecided. (n=239, margin of error is +/- 6.3 percentage points)

One factor driving Graham’s lead is her votes among females, as the only female candidate, she leads the field with 32% of the vote, compared with males where she leads, albeit by a lesser degree, at 25% of the vote.

Senate Race

In a potential US Senate ballot test, Governor Rick Scott saw his numbers tick up a point from 44% to 45% and Bill Nelson saw his numbers tick down from 40% to 39%. 16% were undecided. (n=800, margin of error is +/-3.4 percentage points).

Driving Scott’s lead is his popularity in Florida with a 48% approval and 33% disapproval, 16% were undecided. Senator Nelson has a 35% approval and 36% disapproval. Among Independent voters Scott leads 44% to 25% in the ballot test.

Presidential Job Approval

President Trump’s job approval has increased by 2 points compared to July’s numbers. In addition, among likely GOP primary voters, Trump has an 80% approval.





Students’ physical safety, Gun Laws and Important Issus for Voters

While a majority of voters, 56%, said they were very concerned about physical safety of students at schools, and 60% of voters think Gun laws should be stricter, only 12% said Gun Control Policy was the most important issue in the upcoming midterm election. In fact, Gun Policy ranked 4th in importance behind Immigration at 27%, Healthcare at 25%, Economy in general at 14%.

Methodology

This survey was conducted August 16-20, 2018 using an online sample supplied by Survey Sampling International (n=400) and via an automated telephone platform (IVR) using registered voter landline phone lists supplied by Aristotle, Inc. (n=400) for a total sample size of n=800 registered voters who said they are likely to vote, with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points. . It is important to remember that subsets carry have higher margins of error, as the sample size is reduced. The MOE for the Democratic Primary, Likely Voters, n=239, +/- 6.3 percentage points; Republican Primary, Likely Voters, n=222, +/- 6.5 percentage points. The data was weighted by ethnicity, region, party affiliation and gender.