Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, released a poll Tuesday showing all three Republicans in the Florida Cabinet in solid shape as they look for second terms in November.
Despite facing two opponents in November, the poll finds Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi with a comfortable lead over her rivals.
It shows Bondi ahead with 43 percent followed by former Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon, who won the Democratic primary last month, with 35 percent. Libertarian Bill Wohlsifer, an attorney from Tallahassee, takes 6 percent. The poll also finds 17 percent remain undecided.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam does worse than the other Cabinet members in the poll. Putnam takes 42 percent when matched against Democrat Thad Hamilton, who registers 37 percent; 22 percent remain undecided. Putnam served in Congress as part of the GOP leadership. Hamilton, an Army veteran, worked more than 35 years in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and served on the Broward Soil and Water Conservation Commission, rising to become chairman.
Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, former president of the state Senate, is in far better shape than either Bondi or Putnam in the poll. Atwater takes 46 percent when matched against Democratic nominee William Rankin, a businessman and Army veteran, who pulls 34 percent. A fifth of those surveyed -- 20 percent -- remain undecided.
The poll of 818 likely Florida voters was taken Sept. 4-7 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent. One major caveat: The sample includes 40 percent Democrats and 38 percent Republicans, though GOP voters usually turn out more in off-year elections.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
