Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Gov. Rick Scott are virtually tied in a hypothetical 2018 Senate race, according to a new University of North Florida poll.

Recent polls by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and by Florida Atlantic University have also shown a Nelson-Scott race too close to call. Scott, facing term limits as governor next year, hasn’t announced his 2018 plans but is widely expected to enter the Senate race.

In the UNF poll, which was conducted Oct. 11-17, Nelson gets 37 percent and Scott 36 percent — essentially a tie considering the poll’s 3.4 percent margin of error. Nelson’s numbers have slipped since UNF last polled the race in February and found the Democrat leading Scott by a 44-to-38 percent margin.

"Like most statewide races in Florida, the senate race between Nelson and Scott is going to be too close to call all the way until Election Day," said Michael Binder, faculty director of the Public Opinion Research Lab at UNF.

Binder said a "major concern" for Democrats is that 49 percent of voters aren’t familiar enough with Nelson to have an opinion on his job performance. Among those with an opinion, 35 percent approve of Nelson and 15 percent disapprove.

"When a three-term sitting U.S. senator has almost half of the sample unable to assess his job approval, you have a problem," Binder said.

Florida voters approve of Scott’s job performance by a 59-to-28 percent margin in the poll.

President Donald Trump, who carried Florida by 1.2 points last year, has a 37 percent approval rating in the UNF poll, with 59 percent disapproving of his job performance.

UNF polled 834 registered voters by phone. The sample was 37.6 percent Democrat and 35.4 percent Republican, which is nearly identical to the actual breakdown of registered Florida voters as of Aug. 31.