Rick Scott is Closing in on Charlie Crist in Florida Chamber's New Poll

The Florida Chamber of Commerce (in full disclosure, my former employer) released a poll on Tuesday which confirms a poll released last week by the University of North Florida (UNF) that Gov. Rick Scott is making up on ground on former Gov. Charlie Crist, the favorite for the Democratic nomination.

The poll finds Crist taking 46 percent of voters while Scott follows with 41 percent. The UNF poll released on Thursday found Crist at 44 percent and Scott at 40 percent. Like the UNF poll, Scott did much better in the Florida Chambers poll when matched against former Florida Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, routing her 40 percent to 29 percent.

While top concerns for voters remain jobs and the economy, their support of Governor Scott is a signal they approve of his strong ability to create private-sector jobs, said Marian Johnson, the Florida Chambers senior VP of political strategy for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Its likely that voters also remember that while Governor Scott gave Floridas great schoolteachers a raise this year, it was Charlie Crist who actually vetoed a bill (SB 6) that would have boosted teacher pay.

In the competition for jobs, Florida is winning, said Mark Wilson, the president and CEO of the Florida Chamber. Governor Scott is more than halfway to his jobs goal, and I believe Florida voters are beginning to see the importance of a jobs governor.

The poll also found job creation and the economy on the minds of Florida voters with a quarter of those surveyed saying this is their top issue.

The poll of 618 likely Florida voters was taken by Cherry Communication on behalf of the Florida Chamber from Oct. 4-8 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.