This should please a few people (including me) especially if it holds or gets even better for Connie Mack or some other conservative republican.

Election 2012: Florida Senate

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Republican Congressman Connie Mack now runs dead even with incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in Florida’s 2012 U.S. Senate race. But Nelson outdistances two other potential GOP challengers, former Senator George LeMieux and businessman Mike McCalister.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Florida Voters finds Mack and Nelson earning 41% support each. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate in the race, and 12% remain undecided at this early stage. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

In Rasmussen Reports’ first survey of the Florida Senate race last November, Mack, a congressman from the Fort Myers/Naples area, posted a modest 43% to 39% lead over Nelson, a member of the Senate since 2000 when he won the election to fill the seat vacated by Mack’s father.

Nelson posts at 45% to 35% lead over LeMieux, who then-Governor Charlie Crist named to the Senate in September 2009 to complete the term of Senator Mel Martinez who resigned from office early. LeMieux chose not to seek a full Senate term in the 2010 elections because of Crist’s decision to run. Crist was defeated by Marco Rubio. Given a Nelson-LeMieux matchup, five percent (5%) of Florida voters again prefer some other candidate, and 15% are undecided.

Nelson holds a narrower lead – 43% to 37% - over McCalister, a political newcomer. Five percent (5%) favor some other candidate in the contest, and 15% are undecided.

Florida Republicans will pick their Senate candidate in an August 14 primary.

Nelson is viewed Very Favorably by 18% of Likely Florida Voters and Very Unfavorably by 16%. For Mack, Very Favorables are 17%, Very Unfavorables 13%. Nelson and Mack are the two best-known of the candidates. Just eight percent (8%) share a Very Favorable opinion of LeMieux, while 16% view him Very Unfavorably. Seven percent (7%) hold a Very Favorable opinion of McCalister favorably, but 11% regard him Very Unfavorably.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

link:  http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/e...