Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (D) leads Gov. Rick Scott (R) in the Florida governors race by just 2 percentage points, according to a new poll on Wednesday.
That Public Policy Polling survey found Crist leading Scott 43 percent to 41 percent. Fifteen percent said they weren’t sure who they would match in a head-to-head matchup. The poll’s finding is a significant decline from an October poll that found Crist leading Scott by a 12-point margin.
The poll also found that neither candidate has high favorable ratings among Florida voters. Just 36 percent of those surveyed said they have a favorable view of Crist while 34 percent said they approve of the job Scott is doing as governor. By contrast 46 percent said they have an unfavorable view of Crist and 51 percent said they disapprove of the job Scott is doing.
The poll’s findings will likely be a slight letdown for Democrats who are eager to retake the Florida governorship. Dems even hoped Chris Christie would become radioactive as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and any decline in popularity he suffered would rub off on Scott, for whom Christie recently traveled to Florida to fundraise.
The PPP poll was conducted between January 16 and January 21 among a survey of 591 Florida voters.
