Even as every poll shows a tight contest between Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist, a new survey from St. Leo University finds the three Republicans holding Florida Cabinet offices in excellent shape to win second terms in two weeks.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi holds a solid lead over her rivals in the poll of likely voters released on Wednesday. Bondi takes 47 percent of likely voters in the poll while former DCF Secretary George Sheldon gets 39 percent. Tallahassee attorney Bill Wohlsifer takes 6 percent on the Libertarian line while 8 percent remain undecided.
Bondi has secured her base with 83 percent of Republicans backing her while Sheldon rounds up 10 percent of them and 4 percent go for Wohlsifer. Sheldon has the support of 75 percent of Democrats while 15 percent prefer Bondi and 2 percent back the Libertarian. Bondi leads with voters outside the major parties, taking 40 percent of them to Sheldon’s 29 percent and Wohlsifer’s 14 percent.
Florida CFO Jeff Atwater holds a commanding lead over Democratic rival William Rankin. The poll finds 50 percent of likely voters backing Atwater, 35 percent behind Rankin and the remaining 15 percent undecided.
Atwater gets 83 percent of Republicans while Rankin pulls in 8 percent of them. Rankin gets 70 percent of Democrats while 19 percent cross over to back Atwater. Almost half — 49 percent — of voters outside the two major parties support Atwater while 21 percent prefer Rankin.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is cruising to a second term, according to the poll. Putnam has a slim majority with 51 percent while Democrat Thad Hamilton takes 35 percent and 14 percent remain undecided.
With 84 percent of Republicans, Putnam has the GOP strongly behind him while Hamilton gets 7 percent. Most Democrats — 72 percent — are behind Hamilton but Putnam reels in 20 percent of them. Putnam holds a commanding lead with independent voters, taking 48 percent of them while Hamilton gets less than half of that with 23 percent.
The poll of 500 likely voters was taken Oct. 16-19 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
