By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida. Reprinted with permission.
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, April 30, 2014……….With strong support from women and independents, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist continues to hold a hefty lead over incumbent Republican Rick Scott, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
Crist, who was elected governor in 2006 as a Republican but later left the party and the governor’s mansion, leads Scott by a margin of 48 percent to 38 percent, the poll showed. That is similar to a Quinnipiac poll in January that gave Crist a lead of 46 percent to 38 percent.
“Florida voters think former Gov. Crist is more compassionate, more honest and trustworthy and was a better governor than Gov. Scott,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a prepared statement accompanying the results. “The difference may be simple: Voters like Crist, whose strength always has been his ability to connect. Voters sometimes elect candidates they don’t like personally, but not that often.”
Crist particularly does well with women voters, leading Scott by a margin of 51 percent to 33 percent, according to the poll. Independents also back Crist by a margin of 48 percent to 34 percent.
Former state Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich is the only other prominent Democrat who has jumped into the gubernatorial race. Scott leads her by a margin of 42 percent to 36 percent, the poll shows.
While Quinnipiac polls have consistently shown Crist with a sizable lead over Scott, Wednesday’s results differ substantially from a poll released last week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. That poll showed Crist and Scott in a dead heat.
The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac frequently conducts polls in Florida and other states. For the poll released Wednesday, it surveyed 1,413 registered Florida voters from April 23 to April 28. The poll has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.
-END-
4/30/14
The Florida Squeeze 
This is great news! We need to hold this lead by working hard to defeat Scott.
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What I am thinking is that we are going to need some strong legislators to keep Crist honest. And hope for the best.
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Exactly. He’ll do the right thing if we make it his self-interest to do so.
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I would like to see more on Nan Rich in the press. Will she take too many votes from Christ and throw the election to Scott? How do Rich and Christ compare? A quick summary here on the Florida Squeeze would be great. Rich strikes me as much more honest and to be honest with you, Christ was always quite conservative and it concerns me his recent flip flopped views are likely just to win back the governorship. This state needs action for the public trust in education, labor, and the environment, not just flout periodic rhetoric forgotten after the election by money corrupted politicians.
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“A quick summary here on the Florida Squeeze would be great. Rich strikes me as much more honest and to be honest with you, Crist was always quite conservative and it concerns me his recent flip flopped views are likely just to win back the governorship. ”
You mean you want a biased summary…correct?
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Always cogent, thanks Professor.
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No bias. just the truth based on their records. Action speaks louder than words. Also there is a lot to learn from who people associate with and get contributions and endorsements.from.
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No doubt about that. Say, where do you suppose that Progressive Choice money comes from?
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Progressives…………..
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Haha. Wouldn’t be so sure about that bud, but I admire your earnest spirit. Thanks as always for reading.
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More reasons to get on the Crist bandwagon…….I’m a liberal and like Nan Rich’s liberal background, but god forbid we get Ricky Scott for another four years……I won’t gamble with someone unknown to most of the state’s voters! I’ll vote Crist in the primary.
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When Nan wins the primary she will be a household name and her defeat of Charlie and his operatives will be a template for the defeat of Skeletor.
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Nan who? Oh, L.Wines and your imaginary playmate? Puff the magic dragon (apparently your other imaginary companion) has a better chance.
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I hate to be the one that rains on parades, but that seems to be my mission in life these days. OH !!! WOW !!! This is wonderful news, strike up the band – Happy Days. Didn’t we play the same tune when Miss Alex started out moving and packing? And where is she today? I’ll get all excited about this …. oh say something like the end of October or beginning of Nov. Anyone here got a donut they wanta bet that come then the numbers will be a lot closer?
Slipping my slouch hat down to shade my eyes from the sun as l work on getting my pipe to draw right.
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Old Guy….Wake up. We have a barn burner of a primary coming up. Chicken Charlie and his highly paid followers should know better than to mess with Mother Nature.
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Joe,
“mess with Mother Nature” Can you explain what you mean by that?
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You and I are looking at this from different points of view. I believe that honest people can honestly disagree with one another. Me I do not see what you see. But that’s OK. One thing though I will respect everyone involved and I will not get into tossing pejoratives’ about. I have yet to hear concrete reasons to support Ms Rich. Perhaps you might take the time to put something out on that topic. A set of positive statements.
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Crist winning the primary by 50% (which appears likely) is not exactly a ‘barn burner’.
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Richard I was referring to the humourous commercial.
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Anyone who votes for Charlie is really voting for Scott. You see how dumb that sounds. Yet, that is the latest spin from Charlies operatives. If you don’t know who Nan is and what she stands for, then you need to go to her website and do a little research. .
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Broward Bob. be sure to pre-order the book The Chairman by Jim Greer. You might learn something about Charlie and the rest of the good old boys.
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Please listen to the song “Who are you?” by the who, lamea** New York fraud. And stop hitting on young women on facebook, it and you are pathetic.
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Kartik, Please ban Broward Bob for inappropriate post. Thank you.
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ooooh, censorship attempt by the carpetbagging nan-lover. Josie, please stop wasting everyone’s time with your obsessive foolishness.
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Whoever you are, you are a coward.
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Grow a set and learn to handle the truth Joe. Charlie is going to be Florida’s next governor.
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Once was more than enough.
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[…] was reported earlier this week, Charlie Crist’s lead over Rick Scott is once again growing in a hypothetical Gubernatorial matchup. The news was met with panic among some of the lobbyists […]
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