Tampabay.com

JUNE 28, 2011

PPP poll: Charlie Crist, as a Democrat, would 'crush' Rick Scott

Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling:

Rick Scott was already tied with John Kasich as the least popular Governor in the country in PPP's polling but now he has that designation all to himself. 59% of voters disapprove of Scott, up from 55% when PPP last polled the state in March. Only 33% think Scott's doing a good job.

Scott's numbers with Democrats are pretty much identical to where they were on the last poll. His standing with Republicans has actually improved a little bit, from 57/27 in March to now 63/30. Where he's really seeing a decline is with independents. He was already unpopular with them at a 31/54 approval spread but his numbers with them are even worse now at 27/64.

One potential future match up that would surely be a dream for political observers is a 2014 match up between Scott and his predecessor Charlie Crist.

A plurality of voters in the state- 43%- think that it's time for Crist to switch to the Democratic Party compared to 26% who think he should not and 31% who don't have an opinion. Democrats are the group of voters with the largest net support for such a move, 46/18, and independents think he should make that flip as well by a 48/29 margin. Republicans are pretty evenly divided, saying 35/34 that Crist should move to the Democrats. GOP voters made it clear last year they didn't want Crist in their party but evidently they don't really want him in the Democratic Party either.

Crist would crush Scott in a hypothetical match up, 56-34. He would win a quarter of the Republican vote and takes independents by a 62-30 margin, in addition to pretty much sweeping the Democratic vote. Of course Democrats wouldn't need Crist to win if Scott stood for reelection today- in a rematch of their contest last fall Alex Sink now leads Scott by a 57-35 margin. Scott's unpopularity is such that the Dems could put up most anyone right now and knock him out of office.

Join the discussion: Click to view comments, add yours
Loading...

About the blog

For Florida political news today, the Buzz is your can't-miss-it source. Tampa Bay Times writers offer the latest in Florida politics, the Florida Legislature and the Rick Scott administration. Keep in mind: This is a public forum sponsored and maintained by the Tampa Bay Times. When you post comments here, what you say becomes public and could appear in the newspaper. You are not engaging in private communication with candidates or Times staffers.

E-mail Times political editor Adam Smith: asmith@tampabay.com

Advertisement

Video

Advertisement

ON TWITTER



SPECIAL REPORTS

SITES OF INTEREST

POLITICAL LINKS

TIMES COLUMNS

REAL CLEAR POLITICS BLOG

POLITICS HEADLINES from the AP

Registration FAQ

Read our Frequently Asked Questions on how to register to comment on the site.