Crist Ahead of Rubio by 11 Points in New Poll

A new poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce has good news for Gov. Charlie Crist and his independent campaign for the U.S. Senate but it is an outlier compared to other polls taken in June.

The poll showed Crist leading the U.S. Senate race with 42 percent while 31 percent backed the Republican candidate, former House Speaker Marco Rubio. U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democrat in the race, trailed with 14 percent; 12 percent were undecided. This conflicts with polls taken earlier in the month showing the independent candidate in a tight race with Rubio. A poll taken by Rasmussen Reports on June 7 had Crist and Rubio tied with 37 percent of the vote each while Meek trailed in third with 15 percent. A poll taken by Quinnipiac in the first week of June found Crist slightly ahead of Rubio -- 37 percent to 33 percent, while Meek was in distant third with 17 percent.

The chamber poll did have other good news for Crist: While only 30 percent of Floridians feel that the state is on the right track, compared to 53 percent who think the state is headed in the wrong direction, this does not seem to be impacting Crist. The poll found that 60 percent of Floridians approve of the way Crist has served as governor, opposed to only 30 percent who disapproved of his job.

The chamber poll of 607 likely voters was conducted from June 9 until June 13 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.