Former President Donald Trump is leading Vice President Kamala Harris by double digits in Florida — once a considered a battleground state — according to a University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) survey released Monday.
The survey, taken among 977 likely Florida voters, showed 53 percent expressing support of Trump this election cycle. Harris came in ten points behind, garnering just 43 percent support. Two percent said they would vote for another candidate, and two percent remain unsure.
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The survey noted they included “blurters” in the final results:
After the initial president and senate vote choice questions, undecided respondents were then asked in a follow-up question who they lean toward if they had to choose between the candidates. In addition, responses were recorded from those who refused to take the survey, but volunteered who they would vote for before hanging up the phone. These “leaners” and “blurters” are included in the point estimates for president and senate vote choices
Poll director Michael Binder put it this way:
Prior research tells us that the folks who blurt out their candidate vote choice and then hang up are very likely to vote, and most of those ‘blurters’ are Trump supporters. This might help explain why his lead widened to 10 points, up from 7 in our last poll back in July.
Not only does Trump have a ten-point lead, but he is leading among key demographics. Perhaps surprisingly, Trump is edging out Harris among women, garnering 49 percent support to Harris’s 48 percent support. Further, Trump has a double-digit lead among Hispanic voters in Florida, as 55 percent said they are supporting the former president, compared to 41 percent who are going for Harris.
They survey also examined the Senate race and found incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) leading Democrat Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL) by three points — 49 percent to 46 percent support.
The survey was taken October 7-18 among 977 likely voters in Florida. It has a +/- 3.49 percent margin of error.
The results coincide with the stark reality that the Sunshine State now has over one-million more registered Republican voters than Democrats after initially overtaking them for the first time in November 2021.
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