Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson led four potential Republican challengers in Florida’s closely watched U.S. Senate Race, according to a Suffolk University/7NEWS (WSVN-Miami) poll of likely voters in Florida.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack (32 percent) polled closest, trailing by 10 points in a head-to-head matchup with Nelson, with a considerable undecided of 25 percent. The undecided percent among women was 36 percent.

Suffolk University released data on Wednesday showing that Newt Gingrich would be a weaker contender than Mitt Romney in a general election contest against President Barack Obama,

In the presidential matchups, Romney led Obama by 47 percent to 42 percent in the Florida survey, while Obama topped Gingrich by 9 points, 49 percent to 40 percent. Among independents, Obama led Romney 44 percent to 38 percent and opened up a 56 percent to 29 percent advantage over Gingrich. Gingrich grabbed 12 percent of registered Democrats, while Romney secured 18 percent of registered Democrats.

The Suffolk University Political Research Center will conduct a separate survey of likely Republican voters in the presidential primary on Jan. 28 and 29, following the final Florida Republican debate. The poll will be released at noon on Monday, Jan. 30.

Methodology

The statewide survey of 600 Florida registered voters was conducted Jan. 22-24, 2012, using live telephone interviews of landline and cell phone users. The margin of error is +/-4 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence. Marginals and full cross-tabulation data on the U.S. Senate race will be posted at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, on the Suffolk University Political Research Center Web site. For more information, contact David Paleologos at 781-290-9310.