Charlie Crist Holds Solid Lead Over Rick Scott in New Q-Poll

Unlike other polls which show a narrowing race, Quinnipiac University released a poll on Wednesday morning which finds former Gov. Charlie Crist, the leading Democratic gubernatorial contestant despite holding three statewide offices as a Republican, with a solid lead over Gov. Rick Scott in the Florida gubernatorial contest. The poll shows Crist taking 48 percent while Scott garners 38 percent. Quinnipiac had Crist leading Scott by 8 percent in a January poll while he was up by 7 percent in a November poll. Scott does better against former Florida Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, beating her 42 percent to 36 percent.

"So far, Florida Gov. Rick Scott's television barrage apparently has had no impact on the race, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. The incumbent has not been able to reduce former Gov. Charlie Crist's lead. In fact, voters see Crist's party switch in a positive light and the incumbent's effort to tie Crist's support for Obamacare has not yet borne fruit."

The poll does seem to undercount Republicans with only 25 percent of those surveyed being GOP voters while Democrats make up 31 percent of the sample. Republicans made up 36 percent of the voters in Florida's 2010 gubernatorial election.

The poll of 1,413 registered Florida voters was taken from April 23-28 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent.