Republican Connie Mack threatening Bill Nelson in Florida Senate race, new poll says (The Ticket)

Mack (Harry Hamburg/AP)

It's a good thing for Republicans that Rep. Connie Mack changed his mind about running for the Senate, according to a new poll of Florida voters.

The Republican member of Congress--whose father of the same name formerly served as a senator from Florida--is in a statistical dead heat with Bill Nelson, the Democratic incumbent, in a Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters released Friday.

Mack received the support of 40 percent of Florida voters in the poll, and Nelson received 42 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

The numbers are likely a relief for Republicans, who doggedly recruited Mack even after he announced his decision not to run for the Senate in March, citing a desire to spend more time with family.

"The entrance of Congressman Connie Mack into the Senate race changes what had been shaping up as an easy reelection for Sen. Bill Nelson into a tough fight that the incumbent could lose," Peter A. Brown, the assistant director of Quinnipiac University's Polling Institute said in his analysis. "The fact that Mack is essentially tied with Nelson, who has been a statewide political figure for two decades, should set off warning bells at Democratic headquarters."

Mack appears to hold an early lead in the Republican primary. He received the support of 32 percent of Republican voters. His closest competitor, former Sen. George LeMieux, was at 9 percent. The Republican sample in the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Republicans have been eager to mount a strong challenge to Nelson as well as boost voter enthusiasm and participation in Florida for the 2012 election--something current elected officials, at least at the top, aren't doing.?At the moment, Republican Gov. Rick Scott's approval rating is at an abysmal 36 percent, with a disapproval rating of 50 percent, according to Friday's poll.

More popular Yahoo! News stories:

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20111111/el_yblog_theticket/republican-connie-mack-threatening-bill-nelson-in-florida-senate-race-new-poll-says

mos def jack o lantern jack o lantern dave thomas mean girls houston weather peter king