Crist Starts His Independent Bid Slightly Ahead of Rubio in Florida

2 years ago

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Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is starting with a lead in the three-way Senate race, running ahead of likely Republican nominee Marco Rubio by 38 percent to 34 percent with 17 percent for Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted May 3. The margin of error is 4.5 points.

In a poll last month before Crist decided to drop out of the GOP primary race and run as an independent, Rubio had led a hypothetical three-candidate match-up with 37 percent to Crist's 30 percent, with Meek trailing at 22 percent.

Crist has stronger favorablity numbers than the other two. Fifty-seven percent see him favorably while 40 percent do not, with 2 percent not sure. Rubio is seen unfavorably by a 48 percent to 42 percent margin with 10 percent not sure. Meek's problem is that 32 percent of voters don't know enough about him to be sure of their opinion.

Crist is hanging on to 30 percent of the Republican vote (compared to 58 percent for Rubio) and is drawing more Democratic votes than Meek by a 44 percent to 35 percent margin. Crist also leads among unaffiliated voters with 40 percent, followed by Rubio at 28 percent and Meek at 11 percent.

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Filed Under: Senate, Polls, Poll Watch, 2010 Elections

Tagged: 2010 Senate Elections, 2010 senate races, Charlie Crist, CharlieCrist, crist independent, CristIndependent, dailyguidance, Florida Senate Race, florida senate races, FloridaSenateRace, Kendrick Meek, KendrickMeek, Marco Rubio, MarcoRubio

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