Kevin Derby of the Sunshine State News reports that
Rick Scott, Charlie Crist Tied in New Poll, according to a poll by Gravis Marketing released on Friday.
The poll finds both Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic challenger former Gov. Charlie Crist running even, taking 37 percent apiece. However, more than a quarter of those surveyed -- 26 percent -- remain undecided.
Most polls have shown the race tightening up as the double-digit lead Crist had last year has vanished.
The poll of 859 registered voters was taken from Aug. 14-24 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent. Of those voters, 73 percent of them identified themselves as “very likely” to vote while 17 percent said they were “likely to vote” and 10 percent were “somewhat likely to vote.” Most of the sample -- 80 percent -- was collected via phone but the remainder came from Internet panels.
Governor Scott's campaign has seriously outspent former Governor Crist over recent months in a spending trend likely to continue as major utilities and other big corporate interests open up their checkbooks to increase donations to Scott's campaign.
David Adams of Reuters bring us the news that Florida power utilities fear return of ‘Green Governor' Crist, and are pouring money into Governor Rick Scott's campaign.
The election spending is notable in a tight race where the issues of energy and climate change have taken center stage in recent weeks, with both candidates asserting their environmental credentials.
Crist was a darling of clean energy advocates, hosting a climate change summit in 2007 alongside another green Republican, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. His focus on clean energy challenged the Florida utilities who are heavily dependant on natural gas and coal, as well as some nuclear.
According to current state records, Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric utility serving 4.6 million customers, over the last year has given a combined $1.2 million to Scott's political action committee, Let's Get to Work, and the Republican Party of Florida. Duke Energy contributed another $1.2 million to Scott and the Republican Party.
A third company, TECO, contributed $1.15 million to the Republican Party of Florida.
Adams also tells that that under Scott, Florida has dismantled its program of rebates for solar installations. Scott also approved "a plan to let Duke Energy continue billing consumers for $3.2 billion in higher electric rates to pay for two failed power plants."
Reuters reports that the Scott campaign has raised $28 million since November while the Crist campaign has raised $21 million.
Let's see if we can help Crist level the playing field. Florida is an important swing state and is now sitting right on the edge in this tight governor's race. Please donate what you can to help Charlie Crist become the next Democratic governor of Florida.
Charlie Crist's Official Website