Conflicting storylines dominate news of two new surveys in the special congressional election approaching in Pinellas County March 11.
A Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/WUSF Public Media poll released late Wednesday night shows former state CFO Alex Sink out in front in the special election for the seat held for decades by the late U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla..
Sink, the Democrat, takes 40 percent while Republican David Jolly holds 34 percent. Libertarian Lucas Overby takes 4 percent and 17 percent remain undecided. The remaining 5 percent refused to answer or said "other candidates."
When undecideds were asked if they were leaning toward a certain candidate, Sinks margin slightly increased, leading 42 percent to Jollys 35 percent. Overby remained at 4 percent while 14 percent were still undecided.
The poll does show President Barack Obamas federal health-care law remains unpopular in the district, with 43 percent supporting it and 47 percent opposing it. Most of Sinks supporters -- 81 percent -- fall in line behind their candidate in supporting the law. Most of Jollys backers -- 84 percent -- join him in opposing it.
The poll of 603 likely voters was taken by Braun Research Feb. 4-9 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Meanwhile,St. Pete Polls released a poll taken for Saint PetersBlogThursday, which finds Jolly with a slight lead. Jolly leads with 46 percent while Sink is right behind him with 44 percent. Libertarian Lucas Overby pulls in 6 percent; 3 percent are still undecided.
When undecided voters were asked if they were leaning toward a candidate, Jollys lead increased slightly. In that scenario, Jolly took 47 percent followed by Sink with 44 percent, while Overby took 7 percent and 2 percent remained undecided.
The poll of 1,130 registered voters in the district who intend to vote in the special election was taken Feb. 12 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com,
