Eye on the Senate: Crist's Popularity Lags, But He Still Leads

November 1, 2009 10:08 AM | | Comments (1)

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's main opponent in his coming race for Senate may be his own sagging popularity among the state's Republican voters, according to a poll conducted Oct. 25-28 and commissioned by three Florida news organizations.

Crist angered some of his fellow Republicans last February when he appeared on stage for an event with President Obama to build support for an economic stimulus package that was widely opposed by the GOP.

About two-thirds of Republican voters responding to the poll disagreed with Crist's decision to appear with the president, and half of them said they strongly opposed it, according to The Miami Herald, one of the news organizations sponsoring the survey. The other two news sponsors were Bay News 9 and the St. Petersburg Times.

Forty-two percent of likely voters said Crist was doing a good or excellent job as governor.

Still, he leads in his GOP Senate primary race against former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. The poll found Crist favored by 50 percent of Republican voters, with 28 percent for Rubio and 22 percent undecided.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with 600 registered Florida voters and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

It was conducted by two polling firms, Schroth, Eldon and Associates serving primarily Democratic clients, and the Polling Co. which is largely engaged by Republicans.

CQ Politics rates the Senate race Likely Republican.

To follow all the 2010 Senate races, check out the CQ Politics election map.

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Categories: Polling Co., Schroth, Eldon and Associates, Senate

Tags: Crist, Florida, Rubio

    Comments

  1. The message of the 2009 off-year election was anti-incumbency.

    As Governor, Charlie Crist is a lightning rod for voter discontent.

    Marco Rubio, will demagogue on his record as a tax cutter. Mr. Rubio has the luxury of not being responsible for the consequences of his actions as an official. As a legislative leader, Mr. Rubio has plenty of people to blame for his failings.

    Yet Mr. Crist has enormous advantages. Mr. Crist has the opportunity to demonstrate effective leadership. Thnking outside the box, for example

    *stimulating job creation and good nutirition by serving more Florida fruits and vegetables in school cafeterias,

    *using state data bases to help match commuters in ride share plans to reduce traffic congestion,

    * pulling bilingual call centers into Florida .

    These are examples of ideas that can improve people's lives at low cost to the taxpayer.

    If Governor Crist implements many ideas that use existing state resources to solve persistent problems, he will establish that he is the person needed in Washington to get America on the mend.

    Posted by: Robert Chapman Author Profile Page | November 7, 2009 12:18 PM

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