Bill Gunter and Amanda Murphy Tied in New HD 36 Poll

A new poll shows a close battle in the special election for an open Florida House seat in Pasco County. Peter Schorsch over at St. PetersBlog commissioned St. Pete Polls to look at the race between Republican Bill Gunter and Democrat Amanda Murphy. The poll finds the two candidates knotted together with 44 percent apiece.

The poll also shows Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano could make a major difference in the race. Having represented the area for almost 20 years in the Legislature, Fasano has not endorsed fellow Republican Gunter or Murphy, limiting his involvement to posting on Twitter. The poll finds only 18 percent of those surveyed would be less likely to vote for a candidate with Fasanos endorsement while almost half -- 49 percent -- said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who has Fasanos blessing.

The poll of 310 registered voters was taken on Sept. 30 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.6 percent.