Charlie Crist polling as a Democrat for the next Florida Governor race
Charlie Crist’s latest flirtation with the Democratic party may not please all Democratic officials in the state, but Florida’s Democratic voters overwhelmingly want him to officially register as a Democrat. And although some theorize Crist may run against Rick Scott for governor in 2014.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist speaking with a citizen after a “Town Hall” event in Pensacola, May 5, 2009. photo/Dscosson
The poll, by St. Petersburg-based StPetePolls, shows Crist leading Sink 61 percent to 25 percent among a statewide sample of registered Democratic voters. They were followed in the poll by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer with 7 percent and state Sen. Nan Rich, of Weston, and state Democratic Paty Chairman Rod Smith at slightly more than 3 percent each.
The poll was done Saturday, shortly after Crist spoke on the final night of the Democratic convention in Charlotte.
Crist got 70 percent favorable ratings to 16 percent unfavorable in the poll. Sink got 55 percent favorable to 21 percent unfavorable.
StPetePolls is a division of a company specializing in corporate telecommunications and phone systems. It is run by Matt Florell. He said the company has begun using its telecommunications capabilities to do political polling but isn’t aligned with any political party or candidate.
Pollster Jim Kitchens, of Orlando, said the poll “is probably a pretty good view of the broad swath of Democratic voters but maybe not the supervoters who will turn out in a primary.”
The Miami Herald was quick to attack the poll, pointing that there were no undecided voters in the poll.
“There’s no one undecided? Well, we’ve now made history: two years before an election before nearly all the candidates have really declared, everyone knows who they’ll vote for,” said Tom Eldon, pollster SEA Polling & Strategic Design, who has surveyed for Democrats and trial lawyers since 1996 in Florida.
