Despite Kos placing the Florida Governor's race in the marginal category, a new Quinnipiac poll indicates that it is a tossup, with Jim Davis slightly leading Crist and Gallagher and Rod Smith slightly trailing. While both Davis and Smith are decent candidates, I somehow believe that despite the polls, Smith will have a better chance to catch on and win in the fall because of his ability to cut into Republican support in northern Florida. But either one would be a strong candidate.
"Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Davis has a razor-thin edge over two Republican contenders in the Florida Governor's race, squeaking by State Attorney General Charlie Crist 40 - 37 percent, with 19 percent undecided, and inching ahead of State Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher 40 - 37 percent, with 20 percent undecided, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
In a Democratic primary, Davis leads State Sen. Rod Smith 38 - 17 percent with 41 percent undecided, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds. Among Republicans, Crist tops Gallagher 43 - 26 percent, with 28 percent undecided.
In a general election matchup, Crist edges Smith 39 - 37 percent, while Gallagher is ahead of Smith 39 - 35 percent.
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"The race for Governor remains wide open. One in five Florida voters are undecided, including almost one in three independents - the group that will decide the election," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"The candidates, especially the Democrats, are not well known, so it's reasonable to conclude that President Bush's slide in the polls has hurt GOP candidates in Florida," Brown added.
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From May 15 - 22, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,086 Florida registered voters with a margin of error of +- 3 percentage points. The survey includes 455 Democratic voters with a margin of error of +- 4.6 percentage points and 424 Republican voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.8 percentage points."
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/...