President Barack Obama speaks during a visit to the University of Miami in the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse on February 23, 2012 in Miami, Florida. Obama spoke to the crowd about American energy and later in the day he made stops at campaign fundraisers. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Reporting Tim Kephart
Legislative Session Coverage
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The presidential election is a dead heat in the crucial swing state of Florida six months ahead of the general election in November.
According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, Mitt Romney currently leads President Barack Obama 44-43 percent in Florida. The numbers yield a statistical tie, given the poll’s margin of error of +/- 3 percent. A full nine percent said they were unsure about who they’d vote for between Obama and Romney.
Deeper in the numbers, Obama and Romney take the vote of their individual parties by roughly the same margin, but Romney currently leads among independents. Obama leads in Florida among women, African-Americans, and Hispanic voters.
White voters with a college degree in Florida favored Romney by a 50-42 percent margin, while evangelical voters preferred Romney by a 69-17 percent.
While Romney is in the lead by a point, Floridian’s view of the Republican party isn’t good among indepenedents, men, and African-Americans, according to the Q-Poll. Hispanic voters are evenly divided on whether they view the GOP favorably or unfavorably.
On the flip side, Florida Democrats, women, African Americans and Hispanics view the Democratic Party favorably. Independents, Republicans, and men don’t view the party favorably.
One of the questions the Q-Poll asks hits at the heart of Romney’s claim that Obama hasn’t produced enough results to curb the Great Recession he inherited from former President George W. Bush.
Floridia Democrats, men, women, African-American, and Hispanic voters all said the economy is starting to recover. Only Republicans, and white voters said the economy was not recovering. Independents split on the issue.
