Poll Shows Floridians Support Minimum Wage Increase
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It appears Floridians are in favor of raising worker's pay rates.
Florida voters overwhelmingly support an increase in the state's minimum wage, according to a Quinnipiac University poll that was released Thursday.
The issue could be an emerging political talking point.
Florida's $7.93 minimum wage is higher than the federal $7.25 minimum wage.
But the poll showed that 73 percent of voters favor going higher than $7.93, and only 24 percent oppose the idea. Democrats and independents support a higher minimum wage by huge margins, and 53 percent of Republicans also back it, according to the poll of 1,565 registered Florida voters.
President Barack Obama supports legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10, and Democratic gubernatorial candidates Charlie Crist and Nan Rich also have supported an increase as they seek to unseat incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac regularly conducts polls in Florida and other states. The new poll was conducted from Jan. 22 to Jan. 27 and has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.