Politics: Quinnipiac Poll Shows Attorney General McCollum With a 38-34 Lead Over Chief Financial Officer Sink in the 2010 Gubernatorial Race
The latest Quinnipiac University Poll shows Republican state Attorney General Bill McCollum with a four-point lead over Democratic state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink in the 2010 election for Florida governor. The poll showed 38 percent for Attorney General McCollum, 34 percent for CFO Sink. Twenty-five percent of respondents were either undecided or refused to answer, one percent said they would vote for someone else, and one percent said they would not vote.
Two months ago, a Quinnipiac poll gave CFO Sink a four-point lead over Attorney General McCollum. The key difference between the two polls is an increase in Attorney General McCollum’s strength among independents, which rose from a five-point spread in June 2009 to a 15-point spread in August 2009.
The poll also found that the primary races for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez have not changed dramatically since June 2009. In the Republican primary, Gov. Charlie Crist remains the favorite over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, currently leading by 55 percent to 26 percent. Among Democrats, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (17th Congressional District) was supported by 18 percent of respondents, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein (22nd Congressional District) by 12 percent, and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (3rd Congressional District) by nine percent.
Gov. Crist continues to be very popular, with 60 percent of respondents approving of his performance in office and 30 percent disapproving. His approval rating has declined by seven points since February 2008 and by 13 points since its peak in July 2007.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,136 Florida voters between August 12 and August 17, 2009, including 446 Republicans and 434 Democrats. The margin of error was 2.9 percentage points on the questions for all respondents, 4.6 percentage points on the Republican-only questions, and 4.7 percentage points on the Democrat-only questions.
Economy: Florida Unemployment Holds at 10.7 Percent
On August 21, 2009, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation announced that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2009 was 10.7 percent, unchanged from the revised seasonally adjusted rate for June 2009. The July 2009 Florida unemployment rate was 4.4 percentage points higher than the July 2008 rate. Unemployment rates in June and July 2009 were the highest in the state since October 1975, when the unemployment rate was 11.0 percent.
The gap between the Florida unemployment rate and the national unemployment rate continued to grow in July. The Florida rate for July was 1.3 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent; in June, the gap between the Florida and national rates was 1.2 percentage points.
Politics: Gov. Crist Expands the List of Potential U.S. Senate Appointees
Gov. Charlie Crist has continued a highly public process for reviewing candidates for appointment to fill out the unexpired portion of U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez’s term. Through August 23, 2009, the governor had interviewed or requested questionnaires from the following Republicans:
- Michael Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, former member of the U.S. House
- Jennifer Carroll of Jacksonville, current member of the state House
- John Delaney of Jacksonville, former Jacksonville mayor and current president of the University of North Florida
- Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami, current member of the U.S. House (21st Congressional District), who declined to submit an application
- Lou Frey of Winter Park, former member of the U.S. House
- George LeMieux of Tallahassee, chair of the law firm of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A. and former chief of staff to Gov. Crist
- Roberto “Bobby” Martinez of Coral Gables, partner in the law firm of Colson Hicks Eidson and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
- Clay Shaw of Ft. Lauderdale, former member of the U.S. House
- Jim Smith of Tallahassee, former state Attorney General and former state Secretary of State
- Daniel Webster of Winter Garden, former state House Speaker and former state Senator
- C.W. Bill Young of Seminole, current member of the U.S. House (10th Congressional District)
Economy: Florida’s Population Declines
According to population estimates released by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research on August 18, 2009, the state lost 58,294 residents between April 2008 and April 2009. The last time Florida showed a population decline was in 1946.
According to Stan Smith, director of the bureau, the population decline was caused in part by the national recession, but “compounding the problem is the housing market meltdown, which made it difficult for people who would otherwise want to move to Florida to sell their homes or get a loan to buy a house.”
The counties with the largest population declines in absolute numbers were Broward County (losing 13,904 residents), Lee County (losing 8,601), and Palm Beach County (losing 8,033). The largest population gains in absolute numbers were in Alachua County (gaining 3,844 residents) and Lake County (gaining 3,614).
Florida’s population is currently estimated at 18,748,925 as of April 1, 2009. The most recent census reported a state population of 15,982,378 as of April 1, 2000.
Politics: Rep. Sansom’s Use of Republican Party Credit Card Questioned
Documents released by state prosecutors on August 21, 2009 indicate that former state House Speaker Ray Sansom (R-Ft. Walton Beach) used a Republican Party of Florida American Express card to pay for more than $173,000 in expenses over a two-year period. Rep. Sansom’s trial on charges of perjury and official misconduct is scheduled for September 29, 2009.
The American Express statements included numerous charges that did not appear to have any obvious political purpose, including purchases from companies such as Cole Haan, Kenneth Cole, Harrods, and Jo-Ann Fabrics. The statements also show that when Rep. Sansom and his family accompanied Gov. Crist on an economic development trip to London, England, Rep. Sansom used the party credit card to pay for airline tickets for family members and meals at various restaurants. On August 23, 2009, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Rep. Sansom had not reimbursed the party for any of these expenses, based on its analysis of party contribution and expenditure reports.
Soon after the credit card spending was revealed, two other holders of Republican Party credit cards, Senate President Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach) and Senate President-Designate Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne) announced that they had turned in their party credit cards. Party chair Jim Greer announced that other cardholders also had turned in their credit cards and the party would no longer issue credit cards to officials.
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