Poll Makes Mack GOP Senate Front Runner
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Everyone is talking about Florida and the race for the presidency, but few people have been talking about the race for the US Senate, until now. The name getting all the attention is Connie Mack.
The field of candidates facing Democrat incumbent Bill Nelson had not excited voters, with former Senator George LeMieux dominating what even some GOP insiders have called a lackluster field.
But according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, the entry of GOP US Representative Connie Mack into the race has energized voters.
The poll showed Mack winning 32 percent of the vote in a match-up with other GOP Candidates, all of whom languished in the single digits.
When matched up against Nelson, poll respondents made it almost a dead heat, giving Mack 40 percent of the vote versus 42 percent for longtime incumbent Nelson, a statistical dead heat when the margin of error is taken into account.
Mack, a West Florida congressman who is the son of former US Senator Connie Mack, who served two terms, from 1989-2001. Bill Nelson ran for his seat, and won election, and now could face his son in the 2012 election.
