TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ever since Gov. Rick Scott won election by a razor-thin margin, his job approval rating has never been high.
A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday shows 39 percent of Florida voters approve of the job he's doing. While that's up 10 points over a year ago, it's down 2 points from earlier this year.
Last year, Scott hired a new chief of staff -- Steve MacNamara -- who invited reporters over for donuts. Scott ditched his executive suits and changed his official photo to a more casual look.
That helped -- for a while.
"Rick Scott's numbers just aren't very good," said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown. "He's back below 40 percent."
The poll shows Scott's approval rate is only 71 percent among Republicans. Experts say a sitting governor should be able to carry at least 80 percent support within his own party.
Scott says he's not concerned about the poll and there is only one number he is concerned about.
"The only number I look at every month is our unemployment rate and, as you know, we are bucking the national trend. We've come down 2.5 percent in the last 17 months," Scott said.
While the June unemployment rate of 8.6 percent remains 0.4 percent above the national rate, it has fallen for two years. If the job picture continues to improve, Scott's job approval will likely rise with it.
But Scott will be going forward with yet another chief of staff.
MacNamara's last day at the Capitol is July 1, when Jacksonville native Adam Hollingsworth takes the job.