Poll Shows Narrowing Gap Between Gov. Scott and Former Gov. Crist
Thursday, January 23, 2014
By: Nicole Creston

January 23, 2014 | WMFE Orlando - A new poll shows Governor Rick Scott gaining significant ground against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist in a hypothetical 2014 election.

The survey conducted by Public Policy Polling shows that if the election were held today, former Republican Governor Crist would come out ahead with just a two-point advantage over Scott. In September’s poll, Crist had a twelve-point lead, with 50 percent of the vote to Scott’s 38. 

University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett says the gap is narrowing because Republicans are rallying around Scott. 

“Most of those Republicans have now decided, ‘Well, I might not like Rick Scott very much, but he is a Republican, and Charlie Crist I don’t like at all because he quit the party,’” says Jewett.

Jewett adds that Democrats may be wary of Crist since he switched his affiliation just over a year ago. Crist officially became a Democrat in December 2012 after running as an independent for the US Senate seat now held by Marco Rubio. Crist said the Republican Party was becoming dominated by its far right-wing minority, driving out moderates like him.

Jewett says Crist is more familiar to Floridians than his primary challenger, former Democratic State Senator Nan Rich. In a hypothetical primary match-up, the new poll shows Crist gets 58 percent of the vote to Rich’s 16 percent.

If the 2014 race for governor is between Scott and Crist, Jewett predicts it will be very close.