Poll: Crist Leads Gov. Scott And Senator Nelson
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – Democrat Charlie Crist is enjoying a resurgence in his new party and currently leads Governor Rick Scott in internal polling conducted for the governor, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.
The survey was conducted by Governor Scott's pollster and showed Crist with a four-point lead over Scott among likely voters. Looking at a potential Democratic primary challenge from Senator Bill Nelson; Crist leads the long-time Democrat by 13 points.
According to the Herald, in a hypothetical Democratic gubernatorial primary, Crist beats Senator Nelson by a 45-32 percent margin. Nineteen percent of democrats surveyed said they were undecided in a Crist-Nelson hypothetical primary.
Senator Nelson has said he has no plans to run, according to the Herald. Crist has only been a Democrat for a little over a year after being declared not conservative enough by Republicans and failing as an independent candidate in 2010.
In a June survey by Quinnipiac University, both Nelson and Crist beat Scott by the same margin: 10 points. A November poll by Quinnipiac showed Scott narrowing the gap with Crist to 7 points. Crist's number stayed the same, 47 percent, but Scott moved up to 40 percent support largely because Republicans began backing him more strongly.
Scott is very popular among tea party Republicans, but has suffered through some of the worst approval ratings of any governor in the nation since he was elected.
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