Poll: Marco Rubio Edges Out Democrat Val Demings in Battle for Florida Senate Seat

rubio demings
Alex Brandon/Getty Images, Octavio Jones/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) continues to maintain a narrow lead over his Democrat challenger, Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), in Florida’s Senate race, an Insider Advantage/FOX 35 Orlando survey released this week found.

The survey shows Rubio maintaining a narrow lead, besting his challenger by two percentage points — 46 percent to 44 percent. 

While Rubio leads among Hispanic and Latino voters, Demings has a two-point advantage among independent voters:

The survey was taken September 5-6, 2022, among 550 likely voters. 

Rubio’s two-point lead seems to be the theme, as other surveys — from Susquehanna to Fabrizio/Anzalone — also show Rubio leading Demings by three and two points, respectively. Friday’s RealClearPolitics average showed Rubio leading by an average of 2.3 percent. 

The poll comes as the two Senate hopefuls focus their battles on each other’s positions on abortion. Rubio has highlighted the extreme position of his opponent, who has only vaguely stated she supports abortion “up to the point of viability.” However, Demings has failed to elaborate on when, exactly, she believes that point occurs. 

“Women should have the opportunity to counsel with their doctors, and their doctors — in the privacy of that doctor’s office — should be able to make that decision,” she said when pressed by CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede, ultimately adding that “the doctor can tell us all what the point of viability is,” thereby sidestepping the question. 

Rubio, meanwhile, has defended the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, explaining why he believes the decision must be made at the state level. And while he acknowledged that laws will often not go as far as he would like to protect innocent life, he said he will support “any bill that saves lives,” in contrast with his opponent, who apparently believes that abortion “should be paid by taxpayers at any time, at any time, including potentially today that the child is due for delivery.”

Further, Rubio has also made a point to contrast his leadership by pointing to the vast support he is receiving from the law enforcement community, earning the endorsement of multiple law enforcement groups and families — a telling fact, given that Demings is a former police chief.

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