Florida Senate Poll Finds Pro-Life Marco Rubio Now Leading Charlie Crist

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 8, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Florida Senate Poll Finds Pro-Life Marco Rubio Now Leading Charlie Crist

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 8
, 2010

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) — A new poll in the Florida Senate race finds pro-life candidate Marco Rubio now leading his two pro-abortion opponents, Governor Charlie Crist and either Democrat Kenrick Meek or Jeff Greene. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters gives Rubio a lead after he had been trailing.

The poll of in Florida finds the two candidates neck-and-neck again this month, with Rubio earning 36% support and Crist, the state’s current Republican governor, capturing 34% of the vote against Meek, who has 15 percent.

In a matchup with Greene included in the survey, Rubio has a bigger lead at 37 percent compared with 33 percent for Crist, who is running as an independent, and Greene receives 18 percent.

A month ago, Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House, and Crist were tied at 37% apiece in the Meek matchup.

"Crist, who opted in early May to run as an independent when Rubio began to run away with the Republican Primary race, bounced to a modest lead – and his highest level of support at 38% – following that announcement," said pollster Scott Rasmussen. "Rubio’s support in the same period has ranged from 34% to 39%. Meek hit a high of 22% in the three-way race in April but has lost ground since then."

According to recent news reports, some influential Democrats are gravitating toward Crist, who has been moving to the left legislatively in recent weeks.

That includes vetoing a pro-life bill that would have helped women avoid abortions by allowing then a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child beforehand.

"Regardless of which Democrat is in the race, Rubio carries roughly 60% of the GOP vote, while Crist earns 29% support from voters in his former party. It will be interesting to see if Crist can hang on to this level of support from Republicans as the campaign wears on," Rasmussen added.

"Democrats are narrowly divided between Crist and the candidate from their own party. Voters not affiliated with either party give a slight edge to Crist. But nearly one-out-of-five Democrats and unaffiliateds remain undecided," he noted.

Rubio criticized Crist for the veto of the pro-life bill, saying “Once again, Charlie Crist has put politics ahead of principled policy-making. Not only would this commonsense measure have provided women with vital information as they make a critical decision, but now Governor Crist’s veto also clears the way for taxpayer funding of abortion in Florida."

"This veto will now make it harder for Florida to fight Obamacare, since the bill would have enabled our state to opt out of the abortion coverage mandate in the federal health care law," he added.

“Even those who agree with the outcome of the Governor’s decision should be alarmed that an issue as serious and deserving of sober deliberation as this one was treated in such a calculating, political manner. Florida deserves a U.S. senator who will think issues through and let principles, not the politics of the moment, guide their decisions. Not surprisingly, his latest decision is only the latest in a long litany of examples in which Charlie Crist has broken his word to Floridians," Rubio said.

Crist has also come under fire for removing the section of his web site supposedly touting his pro-life credentials.

 

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