Poll: Crist has commanding early lead in Fla. Senate race

A new independent poll shows Gov. Charlie Crist with commanding leads over both Democratic and Republican opponents in the 2010 Florida Senate race.

Crist, who entered the Senate race last week with quick endorsements from the national Republican establishment, appears to be off to a strong start in his bid to replace Sen. Mel Martinez (R) in the Senate.

Crist has a 53-18 lead over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio in the state’s Republican primary, according to a Mason-Dixon poll released Tuesday. 29 percent of Florida voters said they were undecided.

The popular governor maintains similarly strong leads over two potential Democratic opponents.

Crist leads Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) 55-24 with 21 percent undecided, while he gains 57 percent to state Sen. Dan Gelber’s (D) 22 percent with the same percentage undecided in a potential matchup.

Meek appears to have an edge over Gelber in the Democratic primary race to go toe-to-toe with Crist or Rubio.

26 percent of Floridia Democrats said they pefer Meek to Gelber, who received 16 percent of voters’ support. A whopping 58 percent of Democratic primary voters are undecided.

The poll, conducted for Ron Sachs Communications May 14-18, has a four percent margin of error, except for the primary matchups. Those results have a six percent margin of error.