New poll shows Rubio leading Demings in Florida

A new poll from Suffolk University shows that Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is leading Democratic Rep. Val Demings in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup for Rubio’s Florida senate seat.

According to the study:

“In the race for United States Senate, incumbent Senator Marco Rubio (49%) leads Congresswoman Val Demings (41%) with 10% undecided. Rubio enjoys wider margins over Demings among men (57%-37%), white voters (56%-37%), and Hispanic voters (53%-33%), while Demings heavily carries Black voters (71%-16%), the poll said. “Demings trails partly due to a name recognition problem. Among all voters, 29% had never heard of her and 29% had heard her name but not formed an opinion. However, Demings leads Rubio (51%-42%) among those familiar with both candidates.”

After studying the results of the poll, David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, called it a “longshot bid” for Demings.

“On the surface, it looks like a longshot bid for Val Demings, who trails by 8 points with just 10% undecided,” Paleologos said. “But the familiar-with-both candidates data point suggests that as Demings introduces herself to more voters, her deficit could narrow, giving her the potential to flip the seat.”

But Rubio’s team thinks much more than a senate seat is at stake and that ultimately the Florida senator must go up against the Biden administration’s “socialist agenda.”

“Poll numbers will fluctuate throughout the cycle but what never changes is Senator Rubio’s commitment to putting in the work on behalf of Floridians,” said Elizabeth Gregory, communications director for Rubio’s campaign.

“Senator Rubio remains focused on passing principled legislation to improve the lives of Floridians while holding the Biden administration accountable for poor leadership and blocking the advancement of the Democrats’ socialist agenda.”