Robaina, Gimenez Lead Field In New Mayoral Poll

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A new poll commissioned by CBS news partner The Miami Herald finds voters unhappy with the candidates running for Miami-Dade mayor, but among the unhappy and the undecided, two candidates have emerged as the front runners in the 11 candidate field.

Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez lead the pack in the poll of 499 likely voters taken last Wednesday and Thursday for The Herald and Univision.

Robaina is supported by 25 percent of voters and Gimenez by 20 percent, according to the poll, but with a margin of error of just under 5%, it really means the former Miami-Dade commissioner and soon-to-resign Hialeah Mayor are in a statistical dead heat, with just over a week to go before election day.

"This is very clearly a two-man race," said Fernand Amandi, managing partner of Miami-based polling firm Bendixen & Amandi International, told The Herald. Amandi added that "Robaina has the lead, but Gimenez has momentum."

What may be the most surprising result of the poll is the candidate in third place; former rapper Luther Campbell, who was selected by 10 percent of those polled.

Former state legislator Marcelo Llorente tagged 8 percent, and the remaining 7 candidates all came in under 5 percent.

But by no means consider the race a lock. According to the poll, conducted by Bendixen and Amandi, fully one quarter of the voters are undecided, and there is still plenty of time to vote.

Early voting continues for 8 days, absentee balloting is well underway, and, of course, even voters who have voted in those manners can show up at the polls on election day and cast their ballot, tossing out any previous choice.

Read the full poll:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/14/2217026/robaina-gimenez-lead-race-for.html