Crist's Job Approval Falls, But He Still Leads Primary Opponent

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's job approval numbers have dropped to their lowest point during his tenure but he still leads his challenger for the state's Republican Senate nomination by a comfortable margin, according to a poll conducted for the St. Petersburg Times, Miami Herald and Bay News 9 Oct. 25-28.Forty-two percent of voters say Crist is doing an excellent or good job while 39 percent said he was only doing a fair job and 16 percent rated him poor.

However, Crist is still ahead of former state House Speaker Mark Rubio, who is mounting a challenge from the right. Crist leads him by 50 percent to 28 percent with 22 percent undecided.

"After nearly three uneventful years in the people's mansion in which unemployment has reached double-digits across the state and the real estate boom turned into a foreclosure nightmare, Charlie Crist has finally made something drop like a rock - his approval ratings," said pollster Tom Eldon.