Florida: Rubio Still Holds Double Digit Lead Over Pro-Abortion Crist, Meek
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 15, 2010
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) — Marco Rubio, the pro-life Republican Senate candidate in Florida continues to hold a double-digit lead over pro-abortion independent candidate Charlie Crist and pro-abortion Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters has Rubio running at 41 percent.
The poll has Crist at 30 percent and Meek at 23 percent with two percent favoring another candidate and four percent saying they are undecided.
In late August, just after Meek beat back a tough primary challenge, the race was nearly identical: Rubio 40%, Crist 30%, Meek 21%.
The Rasmussen poll shows Florida voters are solidifying their choice for senator, which is good news for Rubio. Eighty percent of Rubio voters now say they are certain how they will vote in November, 69% of Meek’s supporters say the same thing and that is up from 48% in the previous survey.
Just 45% of Crist’s voters say they’re sure at this point how they’ll vote on Election Day.
Seventy-two percent of GOP voters now support Rubio, while just 45% of Democrats back Meek. Crist earns support from 33% of Democrats and 19% of Republicans. Voters not affiliated with either of the major parties break 42% Crist, 27% Rubio and 24% Meek.
Also released today, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found Rubio leads Crist by 40 percent to 26 percent among likely voters with Meek bringing in 21 percent support.
When Florida voters were asked how they would vote between just Rubio and Crist, the contest is essentially tied — Rubio 46 percent, and Crist 45 percent. That shows Crist and Meek are essentially splitting the same group of voters and not many Republicans and independents are moving away from Rubio.
Florida has a large "enthusiasm gap" with Republicans far more motivated to vote in November than Democrats, the new survey found. The poll said 82 percent of Republicans said they are certain to vote, compared to 61 percent of Democrats.
The Reuters poll also found the race to replace Crist as governor is very close with pro-life Republican Rick Scott and pro-abortion Democrat Alex Sink statistically tied, Scott with 47 percent and Sink with 45 percent.
Crist, who upset pro-life advocates by vetoing a bill that would have helped women by allowing them to see an ultrasound of their unborn baby before an abortion, will not enjoy support from the pro-life movement in the race.
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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