New Poll has Charlie Crist Over Marco Rubio

The Florida newspapers owned by the New York Times Media Group and the University of South Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland conducted a new poll that found Gov. Charlie Crist holding a solid lead in the U.S. Senate race come November. The poll had Crist, who is running without party affiliation, leading former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the likely Republican candidate in the race, up by a larger margin than other recent polls.

Crist pulled 41 perccent with Rubio at 30 percent and Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek pulling a pathetic 12 percent. When Meek was replaced by primary rival Jeff Greene, the race became a bit closer. Crist took 37 percent, Rubio was at 29 percent and Greene pulled 16 percent.

The poll was taken from July 24 to July 28 with 590 likely voters. The margin of error in the poll was at +/- 4 percent.