Mitt Romney now holds a seven-point lead over President Obama in Florida, according to a new Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/Miami Herald poll released Thursday evening.

The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, found Romney leading Obama 51 percent to 44 percent among likely Florida voters with four percent undecided. The poll’s findings are a dramatic shift from about a month ago when the same poll found Obama ahead of Romney, 48 percent to 47 percent.

According to the survey, the movement can be attributed to independents, who broke for Romney 52 percent to 39 percent. Obama led by 11 points among independents last month.

The poll also showed the debate last week had a direct impact on voters, with five percent saying they were undecided but now support Romney, Another two percent of Obama supporters said they are now undecided because of the debate.

Romney also now has a slight lead among Hispanic voters, a voting bloc that most polls show Obama winning decisively.  The survey found Romney with 46 percent support of Hispanics and Obama with 44 percent.

Romney is viewed favorably by 50 percent of those surveyed while 38 percent have an unfavorable view of him. Meanwhile 45 percent said they have a favorable view of Obama while 49 percent said they have an unfavorable view.

The survey’s results differ significantly from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll also released Thursday, which gave the president a one-point advantage over Romney.

The poll was conducted among 800 likely voters from Oct. 8-10 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Tags | Barack Obama, Bay News 9, Miami Herald, Mitt Romney, Poll, Tampa Bay Times