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Greene and Scott hold double-digit leads, Q poll finds

Posted Jul 29, 2010 by Catherine Whittenburg, Tallahassee bureau

Updated Jul 29, 2010 at 07:35 AM

Wealthy outsider candidates are running ahead in both the GOP primary race for governor and Democratic race for U.S. Senate, according to new poll results released this morning.

Millionaire businessman Rick Scott leads state Attorney General Bill McCollum 43-32 in the GOP primary race for governor, Quinnipiac University’s latest survey of likely primary voters revealed.

In the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate, Jeff Greene—another millionaire businessman—has a 33-23 percent lead over U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Quinnipiac University survey of likely primary voters revealed. Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre polled at 4 percent. 

The results show that Scott, who has spent heavily on statewide political ads, is more or less holding steady, having polled 44-31 in Quinnipiac’s June 10 survey. Greene, however, has galloped ahead, having trailed Meek 27-29 percent on June 10. Neither Greene nor Scott has ever held political office, but both have spent heavily on statewide political ads.

“If there was any doubt that enough money can make a political unknown into a front-runner, the Democratic Senate primary and the Republican primary for governor should lay them to rest,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

There remain, however, plenty of undecided—or not entirely decided—voters up for grabs. According to the poll, 23 percent of likely voters in the GOP gubernatorial primary are undecided, and 43 percent of those who expressed a preference for a candidate said they might change their mind between now and the Aug. 24 primary. Likewise, 35 percent of likely voters in the Democratic Senate primary are undecided, and 54 percent of those who preferred a candidate said they might switch.