Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has a solid lead over her rivals in a new poll.
The poll of likely voters from Viewpoint Florida, which was unveiled on Thursday, shows Bondi taking 50 percent while former DCF Sec. George Sheldon, the Democratic nominee, gets 41 percent. Tallahassee attorney Bill Wohlsifer, the Libertarian candidate, gets 6 percent and 3 percent are undecided.
Bondi has secured Republicans with 77 percent backing her while 75 percent of Democrats are behind Sheldon. Voters outside the major parties go Bondis way with the Republican taking 50 percent of them while 33 percent are for Sheldon and 14 percent back Wohlsifer.
With both genders, Bondi has the lead, taking 51 percent of men and 49 percent of women. Sheldon does better with women -- taking 43 percent -- than he does with men as only 38 percent of male voters support the Democrat. Wohlsifer gets 8 percent of men but only 4 percent of women.
Sheldon has the lead with younger voters, with 45 percent of voters 34 and younger backing the Democrat. Bondi has the support of 35 percent of voters 34 and younger while Wohlsifer is supported by 10 percent of them.
But other age groups go for Bondi. She gets half -- 50 percent -- of voters from 35-49, 48 percent of voters between 50-64 and a solid majority -- 55 percent -- of seniors. Sheldon has the support of 41 percent of voters between 35-49, 42 percent of voters between 50-64 and only 38 percent of seniors. Wohlsifer gets 9 percent of voters between 35-49, 6 percent of voters between 50-64 and only 4 percent of seniors.
With 76 percent of voters in the Jacksonville media market, Bondi crushes Sheldon, who gets 19 percent, on the First Coast. Bondi also thrashes Sheldon around Gainesville where she gets 78 percent of voters and the Democrat musters the support of 15 percent. In Fort Myers, Bondi beats Sheldon by an almost 2:1 margin, taking 61 percent to his 32 percent. Over in Panama City, Bondi takes 58 percent while Sheldon takes less than a quarter -- 22 percent -- of voters in that area.
Bondi leads Sheldon by 5 percent in Tampa, 7 percent in Orlando and 4 percent in Pensacola. Sheldon leads by 14 percent in Miami, 12 percent in Tallahassee and 2 percent in West Palm Beach. Wohlsifer shows some strength in the Panhandle and Big Bend, taking 10 percent in Pensacola, 9 percent in Panama City and 7 percent in Gainesville and Tallahassee, though he takes only 2 percent in Jacksonville.
The poll of 1,050 likely voters was taken on Oct. 12 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
