Last month I ruminated on the likelihood that Mel Martinez, Florida's unpopular freshman Republican Senator, would get a mighty challenge next cycle from the Democrats. Judging by the early numbers on his reelection hopes released by Public Policy Polling (.pdf), Martinez indeed does not look strong.

PPP also took a look ahead to the 2010 Senate election and found that Mel Martinez is quite vulnerable.  His approval rating is only 23%, with 43% of the state's voters disapproving of his performance.

In a possible contest against the state's Chief Financial Office, Alex Sink, Martinez trails 37-31.  Against Congressman Robert Wexler, it would be a 33-33 draw.

These numbers definitely underscore a point I made a few weeks back: "Martinez is weak and can be defeated in 2010."