Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney leads 51 to 45 percent among likely voters along Florida’s key Interstate 4 (I-4) corridor, according to a new
Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9 poll.
That corridor runs along central Florida from Tampa on the west to Daytona Beach on the east and includes Orlando. It’s full of swing voters who often determine the outcome of presidential elections in the Sunshine state.
"Romney has pretty much nailed down Florida," said Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, which conducted the poll Oct. 22-24. "Unless something dramatically changes — an October surprise, a major gaffe — Romney's going to win Florida.''
The poll has a 4-percentage-point margin of error.
Democrat presidential candidates generally need to run about even along I-4 to win Florida, as President Barack Obama did in 2008.
The Tampa Bay area, which encompasses six counties, often matches the entire state’s result, with Obama winning both by a count of 51 to 48 percent in 2008. This time around, Romney leads 50 to 46 percent in Tampa Bay.
For central Florida as a whole, the Republican leads 52 to 44 percent.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.