Even a Democratic pollster has to agree: three Republicans holding Florida Cabinet offices are in great shape headed into Election Day.
Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, released a poll on Sunday showing Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, state CFO Jeff Atwater and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam running strong against their Democratic rivals.
Bondi, the only one of the three Republicans to face two opponents on the ballot, holds a comfortable lead over former DCF Secretary George Sheldon, the Democratic nominee. Bondi takes 46 percent of voters while Sheldon garners 37 percent. Tallahassee attorney Bill Wohlsifer gets 5 percent as the Libertarian candidate.
The poll shows Bondi has nailed down her base while Sheldon is having difficulty securing his, despite having been the Democratic candidate for education commissioner in 2000 and running in the attorney general primary in 2002. Bondi gets 82 percent of Republicans while Sheldon has the support of only 64 percent of Democrats since 22 percent back the attorney general. Sheldon does have the edge with independent voters, with 36 percent backing him, 30 percent behind Bondi and 14 percent for Wohlsifer.
Atwater has a commanding lead as he heads into Tuesdays election, looking for another term.
The poll has Atwater out front with 51 percent -- the only statewide candidate who gets a majority in the poll. Rankin lags behind with 37 percent.
Republicans are clearly behind Atwater with 84 percent backing the CFO. He also gets more than a quarter of Democrats -- 26 percent -- while 64 percent are for Rankin. Atwater has the edge with independents, taking 40 percent to Rankins 35 percent with the rest undecided.
Putnam is up on Democrat Thad Hamilton in the poll. The agriculture commissioner takes 49 percent while Hamilton musters 38 percent support.
Republicans have rallied to Putnam with 84 percent behind him. Hamilton gets 66 percent of Democrats but almost a quarter -- 23 percent -- back the Republican. Putnam has a slim lead over Hamilton with independents: 38 percent to 36 percent.
The PPP poll of 1,198 likely voters was taken Nov. 1-2 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
