The Florida senate race has been among the most hotly contested of the upcoming midterm elections. Once considered a swing state, polls show that the state is moving decidedly to the right.

In the first poll released in October, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has a solid lead on challenger Democract Rep. Val Demings in a recent survey conducted by Florida Atlantic University's Business and Economics Polling Initiative.

The poll showed that 48% of Florida's registered voters intend to vote for Rubio in the upcoming election compared to 42% for Demings. Another 7% of voters are still undecided. The poll has an error margin of 3.65%.

Of the voters polled, 60% expect that Rubio will be re-elected in November.

Five polls released in September showed Rubio ahead of Demings by an average of 4.4 points.

Rubio, a two-term senator, and Demings, a former Orlando police chief, debated on Tuesday with both candidates going on the attack. The two candidates responded to questions about inflation, foreign policy, abortion, voting rights, abortion rights and gun safety.

Republicans are doing well across the board, as the gubernatorial race also favors an incumbent. Gov. Ron DeSantis has an 11% lead over the former governor and Democrat contender Charlie Crist.

"Republicans continue to perform well in Florida," FAU professor of political science Kevin Wagner said in the poll's press release.

Wagner added that Florida's status as a swing state would be in question with the results of the midterm elections.

The results of the election could differ from the poll if younger voters, who tend to favor Democrat candidates, have a higher turnout.

The FAU poll drew only from registered voters. The results of the poll were weighed by ethnicity, age, education, party, gender, and region based on their turnout for the 2020 election.