U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., doesnt carry as much baggage as potential primary rival U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., a new poll shows.
Mason-Dixon released a poll on Tuesday looking at the Democratic primary in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Senate. Focused on his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Rubio is not expected to run for a second term.
Murphy launched a Senate bid last month and has been lining up support, getting endorsements from former Gov. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., and fellow congressional Democrats U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings and Frederica Wilson. But Grayson has left the door open to challenging Murphy in the primary and liberal groups have been encouraging him to get in the race.
The poll finds most Democrats -- 63 percent -- are undecided, with Murphy having the advantage over Grayson. Murphy pulls 23 percent in the poll while Grayson gets 14 percent.
Both of the candidates are unknown to most Florida Democrats but Murphy is in better shape than Grayson. Most Democrats -- 63 percent -- dont know who Murphy is while 17 percent recognize him but are neutral about him. Only 2 percent of Florida Democrats see Murphy in an unfavorable light while 18 percent see him as favorable.
More than half of Florida Democrats -- 54 percent -- dont know who Grayson is while 19 percent recognize him but are neutral about him. With Democrats who have an opinion of him, Grayson is slightly upside down with 14 percent seeing him as unfavorable while 13 percent view him as favorable.
J. Brad Coker, the managing director of Mason-Dixon, called Murphy the marginal front-runner in the Democratic primary.
Patrick Murphy has made an early jump into the race and has become at least the marginal front-runner, Coker noted on Tuesday. His most visible potential opponent is Alan Grayson, who has recently expressed an increased interest in running.
Grayson, however, is seen as a divisive candidate even by Democratic voters, Coker added. Murphy starts the race with a much cleaner slate and it is demonstrated by the fact that he has a 23 percent to 14 percent lead over the better-known Grayson. Still, 63 percent remain undecided.
The poll of 400 Florida Democrats was taken from April 14-16 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
