Exclusive I-4 Corridor Poll: Voters split on Scott's job performance

Gov. Rick Scott's approval rating has improve slightly in the Central Florida and Tampa Bay areas, but a News 13 Florida Decides Exclusive I-4 Corridor Poll still shows nearly half of voters in the region disapprove of the job he's done in Tallahassee.

When asked their opinion of Scott's performance as governor, 42 percent approved, while 48 percent disapproved. One out of 10 voters said they weren't sure.

The telephone survey was conducted Oct. 22–24 among 625 registered Florida voters in the I-4 Corridor. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 4 percent.

• In Depth: Jump to view the poll numbers in detail ▼

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Breaking down the numbers

Scott's approval rating was an improvement from an exclusive Florida Decides Statewide Poll from September, when 50 percent of Floridians disapproved of the governor's job performance.

Opinions of the governor also improved in Central Florida, where his approval rating jumped from 37 to 45 percent.

The opposite was true in Tampa Bay, where Scott's approval rating dropped three points, from 41 to 38 percent. Seven percent more Tampa Bay area voters said they disapproved from September to now -- 50 to 57 percent.

Scott gained some ground with his fellow Republicans, who gave him a 76 percent approval rating, up from 64 percent a month ago. Among Democrats, his approval dropped from 14 to 11 percent, and 81 percent said they disapproved.

More than half of independent voters, 53 percent, also said they disapproved of the governor's performance, a jump from 45 percent in September.

Half of women said they disapproved, but that was down from 57 percent. His approval rating among women jumped from 31 to 39 percent.

Men were more evenly split, with 44 percent approving and 46 percent disapproving.

Breaking it down by race, whites were the most split on Scott's job performance, with 48 percent approving and 43 percent disapproving. That was an improvement from September, when 46 percent disapproved.

Among black voters, 79 percent -- almost four out of five -- disapproved of the governor's performance. Only 8 percent approved.

Most Hispanic voters, 53 percent, also disapproved, with only 35 percent approving of the job Scott has done as governor.

• Poll numbers in detail ▼
  

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Most voters: Economy not improving

Two out of three voters in the Florida Decides I-4 Corridor Poll said they do not think Florida's economy is getting better.

Only 33 percent agreed, while 22 percent said they thought the economy was getting worse, and 44 percent said they thought it was staying about the same. One percent said they weren't sure.

That figure was similar among almost every voter group, with some exceptions. More than half of Democrats thought the economy was better, while only 14 percent of Republicans thought so.

One out of five white voters also said the economy was improving; the same amount said it was getting worse. Among black voters, 81 percent thought the economy was better, and only 1 percent said it was worse.

• Poll numbers in detail ▼
  

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Most I-4 Corridor voters wanted high-speed rail

A new question in the latest poll: Do you approve or disapprove of Gov. Scott's decision to turn down federal funds to build a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando.

The result: More than half disapproved, 51 percent. Only 39 percent said they agreed with the governor's decision. Ten percent were not sure.

Most Central Floridians, 53 percent, agreed that Scott should not have rejected the federal funds. In Tampa Bay, just under half, 49 percent, disapproved.

Disapproval of the governor's decision was higher among women -- 57 percent, compared to 45 percent among men.

Democrats had the largest disapproval rating, 78 percent to 12 percent who approved. Among Republicans, 71 percent approved of rejecting the federal grant, and 19 percent disapproved. Most independents, 59 percent, also disapproved.

The governor contended that the proposed high-speed rail line would have ended up losing money, but a study in February 2012 said otherwise.

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Poll numbers in detail

Question: Do you approve or disapprove of Rick Scott's job performance as governor?
* (Numbers in parentheses from Sept. 20, 2012 statewide poll)

Question: Do you feel the economy in Florida is:

• Getting better
• Getting worse
• Staying about the same

* (Numbers in parentheses from Sept. 20, 2012 statewide poll)

Question: Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Rick Scott's decision to turn down federal funds to build a high-speed rail project in the I-4 corridor?

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The telephone survey of 625 registered Florida voters in the I-4 corridor -- all likely to vote in the November election -- was conducted Oct. 22–24 for the Tampa Bay Times, Bay News 9 and News 13.

The poll, which included respondents using land-lines and cell phones, was conducted by Mason-Dixon, a nonpartisan, Jacksonville-based company. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.