A new poll shows Florida voters remain undecided on who they want to see as Florida’s next governor thirteen months out until the general election.
With Gov. Rick Scott facing term limits in 2018, St. Leo University released a poll on Friday showing Republicans and Democrats in the Sunshine State remain undecided on who they want to replace him in Tallahassee.
The poll shows 44 percent of Florida Republicans are undecided on who they want their party’s standard bearer to be in next year’s gubernatorial race. State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam pulls 20 percent while every other Republican is in single digits. Putnam made up ground from the last St. Leo poll looking at the gubernatorial primary back in March. That poll included two prominent Florida Republicans who have closed the door to running for governor: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who moved to the Sunshine State after his first presidential bid, and former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker who is running to regain his previous office.
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who has opened the door to running for governor, pulls 7 percent. Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Lutz, who is also a possible candidate, takes 4 percent followed by businessman and Army veteran Daniel Zutler with 3 percent. Zutler is expected to run for governor on the Constitution Party’s line.
Two candidates in the race--state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, and Bob White, the chairman of the state chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus--pull 2 percent each. That ties them with businesswoman Jackie Siegel who has been mentioned as a possible candidate.
Businessman and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioner Ron Begeron, who has opened the door to running for governor, takes 1 percent. So do businessman Angel Rivera and physical therapist and Army veteran Bruce Nathan. Physician Usha Jain, who ran for Orange County commission last year, takes less than one half of 1 percent.
On the other side of the aisle, 44 percent of Florida Democrats are undecided. Two potential candidates pull in double digits with former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., pulls 14 percent followed by attorney John Morgan with 12 percent. Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Fla., who is an active candidate, takes 7 percent followed by potential candidate Miami Dade County State Attorney Kathy Rundle and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is already in the race, with 5 percent apiece.
Businessman Chris King, another active candidate, gets 4 percent. So does former NBA player Grant Hill who has done little to show he plans to run for governor. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., who has shown no interest in running, takes 3 percent. Two other potential candidates--Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine and businessman Jeff Greene who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010--take 1 percent each.
The poll pitted Putnam against Morgan in a possible general election match up with 42 percent of voters undecided, 24 percent for the Democrat, 18 percent for the Republican and 16 percent for someone else.
Frank Orlando, the director of the Saint Leo University Polling Institute and a political scientist professor at that university, offered his take on what the poll numbers show.
“It isn't surprising to see Adam Putnam top the GOP list at the current time because of the name ID advantage that he possesses as a statewide office holder,” Orlando said. “It's still much too early to draw too many conclusions other than the fact that the other candidates need to play catch-up in visibility.”
The Florida Chamber of Commerce released a poll earlier this week showing Putnam doing better in the Republican primary and leading the top Democratic candidates. Like the St. Leo poll, the Florida Chamber poll found pluralities of both Democrats and Republicans still undecided.
The St. Leo poll of 500 Florida residents was taken from Sept. 10-Sept. 16 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
