Republican Rick Scott now leads Democrat Alex Sink by 6 points in the race to be Florida’s next governor. It’s the widest gap between the candidates in six months of polling.
The Oct. 18 Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 750 likely voters in Florida shows Scott with 50 percent support for the second survey in a row. Sink, the state’s elected chief financial officer, earns 44 percent of the vote. Six percent prefer some other candidate in the race.
This moves the race from a tossup to leans Republican in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard.
Less than two weeks ago, Scott, a wealthy businessman and former healthcare executive, held a 50-to47 percent lead. This race has been close for weeks since Scott’s upset win over Attorney General Bill McCollum in the state GOP primary in August. In six surveys since then, Scott has picked up 41 percent to 50 percent support, while Sink has captured 36 percent to 47 percent. The candidates were in a near tie at the beginning of September.
Scott and Sink are scheduled to hold their second debate tonight.
Republican Marco Rubio remains the front-runner in Florida's three-way U.S. Senate race.