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Politics

New Poll Shows Rick Scott Ahead of Bill McCollum; Charlie Crist Leading Marco Rubio

June 20, 2010 - 6:00pm

The Florida Chamber of Commerce Political Institute and Cherry Communications released a poll over the weekend showing that health care executive Rick Scott has the lead in the Republican gubernatorial primary over Attorney General Bill McCollum, and that Gov. Charlie Crists independent campaign for the U.S. Senate remains ahead of Republican rival Marco Rubio.

Floridians are now starting to focus on the upcoming elections and are turning their attention to the Republican primary gubernatorial contest, said Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President of Political Operations Marian Johnson.

Scott pulled 35 percent as McCollum garnered the approval of 30 percent, while 33 percent remained undecided. The poll confirms Scotts rapid ascent in Florida politics. Since launching his gubernatorial campaign in April, the political newcomer is estimated to have spent more than $15 million in buying media advertisements. Scotts investment seems to be paying off. Besides leading in the chamber poll, Scott led McCollum 44 percent to 31 percent in a poll released earlier in June by Quinnipiac University.

Both Scott and McCollum lead the Democratic gubernatorial front-runner, state CFO Alex Sink, and independent candidate Bud Chiles. Scott carries 30 percent of Florida voters against Sinks 26 percent and Chiles comes in third with 15 percent. McCollum does slightly better, winning 31 percent.

These numbers confirm the results of an earlier poll that showed Chiles drawing in double digits, despite entering the race earlier in June. In a poll that Quinnipiac released earlier in the month, Chiles drew 13 percent when Scott was the GOP nominee, and 19 percent when the Republican candidate was McCollum.

The poll from the chamber had 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 poll also 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, who is facing a tough challenge from billionaire Jeff Greene, trailed with 14 percent; 12 percent were undecided.

This poll, showing Crist with a double-digit lead over Rubio, is something of an outlier of other polls released in June, 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.

Most Floridians are undecided over contests for state CFO, attorney general, and agriculture and consumer services commissioner. More than 60 percent of the voters surveyed remained undecided over each of those three races.

Considering we are still more than six weeks away from the primary election, we expect these numbers to fluctuate and tighten even more, said Johnson. As we approach Election Day, these numbers, as well as the money spent on campaigns, will continue to change.

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

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunsinestatenews.com, or at (850) 727-0859

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