Mason-Dixon Not Pulling Out Of Florida Polling, Whatever Rush Limbaugh Says

A pollster who predicted Mitt Romney would win Florida said that doesn't mean he's pulling out of the state, despite a claim to the contrary by Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh said on his show Tuesday that the polling firm Mason-Dixon was no longer conducting presidential surveys in Florida, telling his audience, "Also, ladies and gentlemen, Mason-Dixon polling has called it for Romney. They're pulling out."

But Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon's managing director, denies the claim, telling HuffPost in an email, "We are currently in the field with one last Florida poll. It will be out over the weekend, for the usual group that includes the Tampa Bay Times & the Miami Herald."

Coker told the Tampa Bay Times on Sunday that Romney had "pretty much nailed down Florida" and was likely to win, barring major changes.

On Wednesday, Coker clarified that while the quote was accurate, Mason-Dixon had not left the state. "It's kind of hard to 'pull out' of Florida since I'm in Jacksonville," he added.

Several other websites, including Examiner.com and the conservative blog Human Events, also picked up on the pulling-out claim.

Another pollster, Suffolk University's David Paleologos, made headlines and surprised other pollsters earlier this month when he told Fox host Bill O'Reilly that he considered North Carolina, Florida and Virginia unwinnable for President Barack Obama and that he would no longer poll there.

Mason-Dixon's latest Florida poll, released Sunday, showed Romney leading Obama by 6 percentage points along Florida's electorally key I-4 corridor. HuffPost Pollster's model estimates that the state remains a tossup, with Romney leading by about one point.

CORRECTION: Mason-Dixon's poll released Sunday surveyed voters in just one electorally key part of Florida, not the entire state.