We're still a lifetime away from the next gubernatorial election in Florida (actually a-year-and-a-half) but that doesn't mean the new poll from Public Policy Institute about that race is any less interesting or relevant.
Charlie Crist has a 12-point lead over incumbent Rick Scott if the two were the major party candidates on the ballot. Crist's lead is virtually the same as the one he had over Scott when a similar survey was taken by PPP back in January.
Scott's approval ratings have consistently hovered below 40 percent since the early days of his election in 2010, and it appears his recent actions that have alienated parts of his base haven't been supplemented from any Democratic love. Currently only 33 percent of the public supports him, 57 percent do not.
"Rick Scott's decision to support Medicaid expansion doesn't seem to have boosted his re-election prospects," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "He's still facing a very uphill battle for a second term."
This article appears in Mar 14-20, 2013.