Poll: Marco Rubio Leads Democrat Val Demings in Florida’s Senate Race

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is leading Democrat Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) in Florida’s upcoming Senate race, a pair of recent surveys show.

An Echelon Insights survey asked respondents, “If the election for Senate were held today, would you vote for…?” It gave respondents the choice between Rubio and his challenger, Demings. In this particular survey, Rubio enjoys a nine-point advantage, leading the Democrat 50 percent to 41 percent.

The senator also has more respondents who say they will “definitely” vote for him— 36 percent compared to the former police chief’s 27 percent.  

Nine percent, overall, remain unsure:

Florida Senate:

Rubio (R-Inc) 50% (+9)
Demings (D) 41%

.@EchelonInsights/@NetChoice, 815 LV, 8/31-9/7https://t.co/VB6Hu7ZhHS

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) September 21, 2022

Similarly, a USA TODAY/Suffolk survey released this week found the Republican leading Demings in the race as well, although by a smaller margin — 45 percent to 41 percent, giving him a four-point advantage:

🚨 FLORIDA POLL By Suffolk University

FL SENATE
(R) Marco Rubio 45% (+4)
(D) Val Demings 41%

FL GOVERNOR
(R) Ron DeSantis 48% (+7)
(D) Charlie Crist 41%

2024 FL GOP Primary
Ron DeSantis 48% (+8)
Donald Trump 40%https://t.co/q3OysDdQCm pic.twitter.com/RndVbGqbsN

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 21, 2022

The Echelon Insights survey was taken August 21 to September 7, 2022, among 1,228 registered voters, as well as 815 registered voters in Florida. Florida’s data has a +/-4.3 percent margin of error. 

The USA TODAY/Suffolk survey was taken September 15-18, 2022, among 500 likely midterm voters and has a +/- 4.4 percent margin of error. 

It comes as the battle between Rubio and Demings continues to heat up, as Demings attempts to cast Rubio as an extreme pro-life radical. Meanwhile, Demings cannot even bring herself to say when, exactly, abortion should be banned, asserting that it should be when the baby reaches a point of viability.

Rep. Val Demings’ (D-FL) security detail reportedly shoved a man to the ground outside of a Demings campaign event, according to a video obtained by Florida Politics. https://t.co/7c9z0Kx7nB

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 16, 2022

However, when pressed on this matter, Demings said a doctor should make that determination, essentially dodging the question. 

Rubio said Demings believes abortion “should be paid by taxpayers at any time, at any time, including potentially the day that the child is due for delivery.”

Meanwhile, Rubio has received endorsements from several law enforcement groups and families — a telling fact, given that Demings herself served as a police chief for years.