March 6, 2001

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Business United (FBU), the political research arm of Associated Industries of Florida Service Corporation (AIFSC), released a poll today showing Gov. Jeb Bush continues to win high marks from Florida voters.

Respondents gave Florida’s governor a 62-percent job-approval rating and a 66-percent favorability rating. In the last year, Gov. Bush’s job-approval numbers reached as high as 70 percent and never dipped below 58 percent. In addition to the governor’s good marks, 54 percent of those surveyed believe that the state is heading in the right direction. The positive feelings have lasted for over a year in FBU’s polling, rising as high as 58 percent and falling as low as 52 percent.

In general, men feel better about the direction of the state than do women (57 percent to 51 percent); men also give Gov. Bush a higher score on job approval (66 percent to 58 percent), and in favorability ratings (67 percent to 63 percent). As might be expected, the mood among self-identified Democratic Party voters is more grim; 41 percent believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, 51 percent disapprove of Gov. Bush’s job performance, and 54 percent view him unfavorably. By contrast members of his own party overwhelmingly support the Republican governor; only eight percent of Republican respondents, for example, gave him negative marks for job performance.

The poll was conducted during the evening hours of February 19 and 20. It is based on interviews with 600 randomly selected respondents who were screened for voter registration. The sample has been balanced according to all known demographic factors. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent with a 95-percent confidence level.

Associated Industries of Florida is a statewide employers association representing 10,000 businesses that range from large multinational corporations to small family-owned enterprises. AIF is commonly known as "The Voice of Florida Business."