Rick Scott has expanded his lead in the Florida Senate elections in the latest poll published with 15 days to go until November 5 and as early voting starts in the Sunshine State on Monday.
Concretely, the incumbent holds a 4-point lead over his opponent, former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, in a survey conducted by ActiVote among 400 likely voters between September 23 and October 20 (52% to 48%).
It is a slightly larger margin than the previous survey: conducted by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab among 977 likely voters, it showed Scott holding a 3-point margin, getting 49% of the support compared to Mucarsel-Powell's 46%.
Mucarsel-Powell has been within the margin of error in several polls over the past few weeks, bus Scott continues to lead in all of them. Moreover, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan forecaster, still considers the race to be a "Likely Republican" one.
In this context, the Democrat continues to go on offense. Her latest push involved an ad depicting Scott as a giant snake.
The new 30-second ad, simply titled "Snake," is a collaboration between the Mucarsel-Powell campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). The ad opens with a snake slithering through a tree to reveal the face of Scott in its head.
The ad largely focuses on Scott's time as Senator, skipping his tenure as the Sunshine State's governor.
"He stole money from seniors in the biggest Medicare fraud ever. Then Scott slid into the Senate, where he wrote the plan to end Social Security, raise your taxes, and ban abortion," the ad continues. "Rick Scott's a slippery politician who's been ripping you off."
The spot is the latest effort by Mucarsel-Powell to make inroads with voters in one of the most hotly-contested Senate races in the country. Her efforts may be allowing her to connect with voters.
According to a memo published by the former Representative's campaign manager Ben Waldon, "Public opinion research conducted by Global Strategy Group from October 2-6 shows that Mucarsel-Powell's advertisements are breaking through. When asked to describe any negative things they're heard or seen about Rick Scott, Florida voters overwhelmingly mentioned the terms 'Social Security,' 'Medicare,' and 'abortion.'"
Whether she was successful will start to be seen as of Monday, as early voting begins in Florida. Floridians will be able to cast their votes at their assigned precincts showing a valir ID with a photo and signature. For those who forget their IDs or get it rejected, they will still be allowed to cast a provisional ballot to be verified later.
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