John Mica Opens 30-Point Lead; Sandy Adams Downplays Poll

Nearly doubling his lead over Rep. Sandy Adams, Rep. John Mica has opened a 30-point advantage in the 7th Congressional District, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by Conquest Communications of Richmond, Va., showed Mica with 55.3 percent of likely voters versus 24.8 percent for Adams.

The results indicate a 9.3 percentage point increase in support for Mica and a 5.2 percentage point decrease in support for Adams since a Feb. 22-23 Public Opinion Strategies poll of 300 voters commissioned by Adams, when Mica led Adams by 16 points.

The poll is clearly reflective that the GOP voters are tired of the constant negative tone coming from the Adams campaign for the past four months, said John Dowless, consultant to the Mica campaign.

Other highlights of the Conquest poll conducted May 19-21:

• Mica maintained a 70 percent favorable opinion rating, while Adams was at 44 percent.
• The freshman Adams performance mostly tracks her 2010 primary race where she narrowly survived by 543 votes.

Adams' spokeswoman Lisa Boothe questioned the results and predicted victory in one of the most closely watched GOP House races in the country.

"John Mica has spent 20 years in Washington, and in that time he has requested hundreds of millions in earmarks, taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funded international junkets, and accepted over $4 million in special interest PAC money. He personifies all that is wrong with Washington today and no questionable robo-poll is going to change that fact.

"Sandys grassroots efforts are being validated by the response she is receiving from Republican voters on the ground, and we have no doubt she will prevail in the August primary," Boothe told Sunshine State News.