Still recovering from the presidential election, a new poll shows Florida voters aren’t sure of who they plan to vote for in 2018 with no favorites in the open gubernatorial race.
St. Leo University released a poll on Thursday showing almost half of both Democrats and Republicans in the Sunshine State are undecided on who they want to see replace term-limited Gov. Rick Scott. The poll finds 49 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans not sure about who they are backing for governor.
Attorney John Morgan, who successfully led the charge for Amendment 2 on medical marijuana last month, has the support of 20 percent of Democrats surveyed. Retiring U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Fla., Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer take 5 percent apiece. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., pulls 4 percent while 3 percent are behind Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine. Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler and former state Sen. Jeremy Ring take 1 percent each while 7 percent of Democrats back “someone else.”
“We’re very early in the cycle, so it’s tough to draw too many conclusions, but there are no slam-dunk favorites in this race,” said Saint Leo University Polling Institute Director Frank Orlando on Thursday. “John Morgan is in the early lead, but it will be interesting to see who ends up receiving the most ‘establishment’ and national money in this race.”
On the Republican side, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who moved to the Panhandle following his 2008 presidential bid, takes 32 percent followed by state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam with 6 percent. State CFO Jeff Atwater gets 5 percent followed by new Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran with 2 percent. Former state House Speaker Will Weatherford and former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker take 1 percent each while 7 percent prefer “someone else.”
“Here again, it’s difficult to tell how much to read into Mike Huckabee’s early lead beyond just name identification,” Orlando said. “Still, it must be a bit concerning for statewide officials like Adam Putnam and Jeff Atwater to be the top choice of so few Florida Republicans at this point. Huckabee is in a good position to benefit from his support of Donald Trump, his past high profile on Fox News, and his ideology and faith, which will play well in his new home in the Panhandle.”
The poll of 501 Florida voters was taken from Nov. 27 through Nov. 30 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
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Comments
Adam Putnam is for illegal
And not poll Charlie Crist?
"Opie" Putnam for Governor !!
Why are we worrying about the
Why waste the time reporting