Talk Elections

Chamber poll: gov race tightening, Crist still with wide lead

The Florida Chamber just released an interesting poll. The pro-business group that has long supported Attorney General Bill McCollum and other Republicans showed close races for both the GOP gubernatorial primary and the general election match up. According to the poll, Rick Scott leads McCollum 35-30, with 33 percent undecided.

In the general election, Scott leads Alex Sink 30-26, with 15 percent going to indy Bud Chiles. With McCollum in the race, the numbers are similar, 31-26-15.

The poll shows Gov. Charlie Crist with a 42-31-14 lead over Republican Marco Rubio and likely Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek.

The survey of 607 likely Florida voters was conducted June 9-13 by the Florida Chamber of Commerce Political Institute and Cherry Communications. It has a 4 percent margin of error. The Chamber also did not release full cross-tabs or the wording of all questions.

The survey also found that Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent, continues to lead former Republican House Speaker Marco Rubio, with 42 percent of the vote to Rubio’s 31 percent. Another 14 percent favor  Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, and 12 percent still undecided. Democrat Jeff Greene was not included in the survey.

In the races for three open Cabinet seats — attorney general, CFO and agriculture commissioner — the survey found that 60 to 70 percent of voters remain undecided about any of the cand.

Finally,  Crist’s approval ratings remain high — with a 60-30 approval-disapproval breakdown — even though 53 percent of voters  believe Florida is on the wrong track.

Marian Johnson, executive vice president of Political Operations for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said that the poll found immigration and property taxes ranking among the top three issues concerning voters. Scott’s ads have hammered on his support for Arizona’s law that would allow local police to arrest people on immigration violations — while on Thursday, McCollum announced a proposal to freeze local property taxes for two years.

The survey was conducted June 9 – 13, 2010, by the Florida Chamber of Commerce Political Institute and Cherry Communications; the survey of 607 likely Florida voters has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Read the poll questions below:

Question: If the Republican Primary for Governor were held today, for whom would you vote?

• Bill McCollum: 30%
• Rick Scott: 35%
• Undecided: 33%

Question: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Governor Charlie Crist is doing?

• Approve: 60%
• Disapprove: 30%

Question: Do you feel things in Florida are generally headed in the right direction or have they gotten off on the wrong track?

• Right Direction: 30%
• Wrong Direction: 53%

Question: If the General Election for U.S. Senate were held today and the candidates were Democrat candidate Kendrick Meek, Republican candidate Marco Rubio and Independent candidate Charlie Crist, for whom would you vote?

• Kendrick Meek: 14%
• Marco Rubio: 31%
• Charlie Crist: 42%

Question: In your opinion, what is the most important issue you would like the Governor and state legislature to deal with?

• Job Creation and Economy: 31%
• Education and Oil Spill: 15%
• Immigration and Property Taxes: 6%


Respondent selection was random within predetermined geographic units throughout the state to reflect actual voter turnout from past elections. Respondents were screened for likelihood of voting in the 2010 November election. Interviews were conducted by professional telemarketers.