Crist leads Scott in 2014 Florida governor’s matchup
From Associated Press
FLORIDA – Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist holds a big edge over Republican Gov. Rick Scott among registered Florida voters in a hypothetical gubernatorial matchup in 2014, a new poll shows.
Crist was favored by 50 percent while Scott was preferred by 34 percent in a survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted March 13-18 by the Quinnipiac (Conn.) University Polling Institute. It also showed that Democrat Alex Sink, who lost to Scott in 2010, would defeat the governor by a margin of 45 percent to 34 percent if the election were now. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Half of those surveyed said they view Crist’s switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party as a sign that he is a pragmatist, compared to 40 percent who saw it as a negative and an indication that Crist lacks core beliefs.
“The fact that voters think it’s an asset that former Gov. Charlie Crist moved from conservative Republican to a Democrat with very different political views will be a key metric to watch between now and the 2014 voting,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the institute. “Those numbers indicate Republicans will have a tough job turning around Crist’s lead over Scott by reminding voters of Crist’s evolution.”
