Rick Scott now leads Democrat Alex Sink in their closely competitive race for governor in Florida. The pro-life candidate now leads his pro-abortion opponent by six points in what is the widest gap in six months’ worth of polling on the race to replace pro-abortion Gov. Charlie Crist.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in Florida has Scott with 50% support for the second survey in a row.
Sink, the state’s elected chief financial officer, earns 44% of the vote while six percent prefer another candidate or are still undecided.
The numbers are enough for Rasmussen to move the race from a tossup to one that it believes is leaning towards Scott winning.
“Less than two weeks ago, Scott, a wealthy businessman and former health care executive, held a 50% to 47% lead. This race has been close for weeks since Scott’s upset win over Bill McCollum in the state GOP Primary in August,” Rasmussen noted. “In six surveys since then, Scott has picked up 41% to 50% support, while Sink has captured 36% to 47%. The candidates were in a near tie at the beginning of September.”
Scott and Sink are scheduled to hold their second debate tonight in what could be the final determination for some voters on which candidate they will support.
Last week, news came out that confirmed Scott’s pro-life views. He earned praise from pro-life voters with his support of a bill in the Florida state legislature that would ban abortions.
Earlier this month, Florida Right to Life endorsed Scott and pro-life Senate candidate Marco Rubio.
Before that, Scott earned praise from pro-life advocates for selecting a pro-life lieutenant governor running mate. Scott’s selected State Representative Jennifer Carroll of Jacksonville to be his running mate as Lt. Governor. [related]
The Florida Family Policy Council told LifeNews.com Carroll “has been a consistent and solid supporter of pro-life and pro-family issues that have come before her in the legislature.”
Carroll was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2003 and was the first black Republican woman elected to the Florida Legislature. She went to the legislature after serving a 20 year career in the U.S. Navy.
FFPC President John Stemberger told LifeNews.com, “I could not be more pleased at the selection of Jennifer Carroll for Lt. Governor as she is a true friend of the family.”
“I applaud Rick Scott for his principled decision making in selecting such a reliable social conservative such as Jennifer Caroll as his running mate,” he added.
Scott, a businessman, has run as a pro-life candidate and Florida Right to Life gave him an “A” grade and recommended him to voters.
“I am pro-life. I believe strongly in the sanctity of human life. I believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned, and as governor, would appoint judges who apply law and not impose their political agenda on the people, which was what was done in 1973 when Roe was wrongly decided,” he says in an audio file on his web site.
Scott also says he disagrees with the decision by pro-abortion Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the ultrasound bill.
“As governor, I would have signed the pro-life ultrasound legislation that has passed both house of the Florida legislature and was vetoed by Charlie Crist for political reasons,” he said. “This important legislation not only demonstrates that abortion is the taking of an innocent human life but also prevents Florida taxpayers from funding abortion through the federal health care plan that recently passed Congress.”
In 2006, there were 95,586 abortions performed in Florida.
