Bill McCollum Widens Lead Over Alex Sink in Florida Governor Race

Florida's Republican state Attorney General, Bill McCollum, has increased his lead over the state's Democratic Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, by 41 percent to 31 percent with 25 percent undecided in the race to succeed Charlie Crist as governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Jan. 20-24.

McCollum's advantage over Sink was 4 points in polls conducted in October and August.

McCollum benefits from a much higher level of support from fellow Republicans (84 percent) than Sink does from Democrats (68 percent). McCollum leads 33 percent to 25 percent among independents, with 39 percent undecided.

But Quinnipiac's Peter Brown said, "McCollum shouldn't start picking out draperies for the governor's office. Certainly part of his lead is due to being somewhat better known than Ms. Sink -- although neither one is a household name in the state. "

McCollum is being challenged for the GOP nomination by state Sen. Paula Dockery, but he leads her by 44 percent to 6 percent with 47 percent undecided.

However, despite Dockery's minuscule showing in a Republican primary, Sink leads her in a general election match-up by only 35 percent to 29 percent with 32 percent undecided.

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