Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been in office less than five months but voters already have grown weary of the Republican by a 2-to-1 ratio, a new poll shows.
Results of a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday show that a whopping 57 percent of Florida voters disapproved of Mr. Scott’s performance, with only 29 percent saying they approve — the worst score of any U.S. governor surveyed by the independent poller. Fourteen percent didn’t answer the question or said they didn’t know.
The governor’s poll numbers are worse compared with a Quinnipiac survey from early April, when his disapproval/approval rating was 48-35 disapproval/approval.
Voter dissatisfaction extends to followers of Mr. Scott’s own party, with 37 percent of GOP voters disapproving of his job performance and 51 percent approving, the poll says. His disapproval/approval rating among Democrats is 72 percent to 13 percent, and 57 -28 among independent voters.
“It probably doesn’t make him feel any better that the state legislature is sharing the basement suite in the eyes of the electorate,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “The good news for the governor is that he has three-and-a-half years to turn public opinion around.”
The poll, which was conducted May 17 through Monday, has a margin of error of plus/minus 2.8 percentage points.
Meanwhile Wednesday, Mr. Scott joked during a radio interview that maybe he’s bad luck for potential Republican presidential candidates.
“I was at the (White House) correspondents dinner with Trump. I was absolutely convinced he was going to run. He didn’t,” said Mr. Scott on Pensacola’s WNRP 1620 AM. “I was with Haley Barbour a week before he announced he’s not going to run.
“I guess no one should sit down with me right before they’re going to run, maybe that’s it.”
