Gov. Charlie Crist starts his bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate with a big lead.
Crist was favored by 54 percent of 486 Republican voters compared to 23 percent who preferred former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio in a poll released Wednesday.
Crist was also rated favorably by 70 percent of the Republican respondents compared to 24 percent for Rubio, in the Quinnipiac (Conn.) University Polling Institute survey conducted June 2-7.
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek was backed by 18 percent of the 477 Democrats surveyed while fellow Reps. Corrine Brown and Ron Klein had 12 percent and 8 percent respectively.
The Quinnipiac poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
