A new poll shows former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist with a big edge over Republican Gov. Rick Scott among registered Florida voters in a hypothetical gubernatorial matchup in 2014.
The poll, conducted March 13 through March 18 by Quinnipiac University, has Crist favored by 50 percent to 34 percent over Scott in a survey of 1,000 registered voters. It also shows that Democrat Alex Sink, who lost to Scott in 2010, ahead of Scott by a margin of 45 percent to 34 percent. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
In the GOP primary race, Gov. Scott leads State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam 47 percent to 24 percent.
When it comes to popular appeal, voters view Scott unfavorably 46 percent to 33 percent, while Crist received a 49 percent to 30 percent positive favorability. Sink gets a 29 percent to 12 percent favorability while 58 percent don’t know enough about her to form an opinion, with 80 percent who don’t know enough about Putnam.
Scott’s job approval rating is a negative 36 percent to 49 percent, compared to his negative 36 percent to 45 percent disapproval in a Dec. 19 survey by Quinnipiac.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research.