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UNF poll finds Bloomberg would beat Trump in Florida

Joe Biden next strongest among Democratic field among Florida voters

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Half of Florida voters would vote for Michael Bloomberg if he faced President Donald Trump in November, with only 44% saying they would vote to re-elect the president, according to a poll released this week by the University of North Florida’s Public Policy Research Lab.

Bloomberg was the only Democratic candidate to have a meaningful lead over Trump in the poll of 725 registered Florida voters taken earlier this month. UNF found Joe Biden would edge Trump 49% to 48%, while both Bernie Sanders and each would each tie Trump in head-to-head meetings.

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The poll found that Trump would beat either Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar by 4 points if the election were held today.

“Apart from Bloomberg’s lead, the other top candidates for the Democratic party are either tied or losing to Trump,” said Dr. Michael Binder, director of the Public Opinion Research Lab, “Given the amount of money Bloomberg has poured into advertising in Florida, it isn’t surprising that he is doing well, but considering the relative weakness of the other candidates this is a pretty positive poll result for Donald Trump.”

Use the navigation on the graphic below to scroll through the results of UNF’s presidential preference poll.

That Trump holds his own against most of the Democratic field doesn’t mean that a majority of Floridians think the president is doing a great job. The UNF poll found 47% approval of Trump and 51% disapproval. Not surprisingly, 87% of Republicans approve of the job he’s doing as president, while only 14% of Democrats approving.

The poll found a higher rate of approval for Florida’s senior U.S. senator, Marco Rubio, with 49% approval overall. Sen. Rick Scott had a 44% approval rate.

Florida’s presidential preference primary will be held March 17, with early voting starting in Jacksonville March 2 and a few days later in surrounding counties.