Press Release for Thursday, October 9, 2014

UNF Poll Reveals Crist Leads in Florida Governor Race


 

Media Contact: Joanna Norris, Director

Department of Public Relations

(904) 620-2192

A new University of North Florida statewide poll reveals Charlie Crist has a five percentage point lead, head to head, over Gov. Rick Scott—47 to 42 percent among likely Florida voters—in the gubernatorial race. In the three-way race, Crist leads 43 to 38 percent, with Adrian Wyllie garnering 10 percent of the vote. In addition, 41 percent of likely voters polled approve of how Scott is handling his job as Florida’s governor, while 54 percent disapprove.

 

Sixty-seven percent of likely voters polled responded that they would vote “yes” for Amendment 2, allowing the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. This is in stark contrast to the percentage of likely voters polled who support allowing adults in Florida to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, which is 44 percent.

 

Forty-six percent of likely voters believe that the economy, jobs and unemployment is the most important problem facing Florida today.

 

The survey was conducted between Monday, Sept. 29, and Wednesday, Oct. 8, and includes 471 likely voters (+/- 4.74 percent). Approximately 261 trained student interviewers from UNF’s political science classes participated in the data collection.

 

The survey was conducted by the Public Opinion Research Laboratory’s (PORL) 27-polling stations at UNF. Through the use of Random-Digit-Dialing methodology, the PORL proportionally sampled the 10 media markets in the state. In addition, a cell phone sample and an overlay sample were used to increase representation of the state of Florida. Age, gender, race, education and party registration were weighted to the 2014 U.S. Census, as well as to statistics from the Florida Division of Elections for party registration.

 

 

Below are the full results. For further information or questions about the methodology, contact Dr. Michael Binder, UNF assistant professor of political science and PORL faculty director, at (904) 620-1205 or m.binder@unf.edu .

 

Sample

 

N

Florida Residents

788

Registered Voters

671

Likely Voters

471

 

If the election for governor were being held today, whom would you vote for between Rick Scott the republican and Charlie Crist the democrat?

 

Likely Voters N=  402 

Rick Scott

42%

Charlie Crist

47%

Someone Else

2%

DK (Don’t Know)

9%

 

If the election for governor were being held today, whom would you vote for between Rick Scott the republican, Charlie Crist the democrat and Adrian Wyllie the libertarian?

 

Likely Voters N= 406  

Rick Scott

38%

Charlie Crist

43%

Adrian Wyllie

10%

Someone Else

<1%

DK

8%

 

Amendment 2 on the statewide ballot in November is called “Use of Marijuana for Certain Medical Conditions.” This amendment allows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. If the election were held today, would you vote yes or no for this proposition?

 

Likely Voters N=  427  

Yes

67%

No

28%

DK

5%

 

Do you support or oppose allowing adults in Florida to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use?

 

Likely Voters N=  423  

Support

44%

Oppose

53%

DK

3%

 

Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Rick Scott is handling his job as governor of Florida?

 

Likely Voters N=  418  

Approve

41%

Disapprove

54%

DK/NA

4%

 

What do you think is the most important problem facing Florida today?  

 

Likely Voters N= 427   

Economy, Jobs and Unemployment

46%

Education

16%

Health Care

12%

Immigration

8%

Environment

4%

Crime

5%

Terrorism

2%

Other

4%

DK

3%

 

Demographics

Are you a registered democrat, republican, no party affiliation or something else?

 

Likely Voters N= 415    

Democrat

41%

Republican

40%

No Party Affiliation

19%

 

What is your age? Is it:

 

Likely Voters N= 425   

18 to 24

5%

25 to 44

22%

45 to 64

43%

65 plus

30%

 

What is the highest grade in school or year of college you have completed?

 

Likely Voters N= 428  

Less than High School degree

1%

High School Graduate

18%

Some college

50%

College Graduate

20%

Post Graduate

10%

 

Respondent gender

 

Likely Voters N= 432  

Male

49%

Female

51%

 

Racial/Ethnic Background

 

Likely Voters N= 423  

Caucasian (non-Hispanic)

74%

African American

11%

Hispanic

10%

Other

5%

 

            UNF, a nationally ranked university located on an environmentally beautiful campus, offers students who are dedicated to enriching the lives of others the opportunity to build their own futures through a well-rounded education.

-UNF-