One day after Republican Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist, running as a Democrat traded barbs for nearly one hour – some of it getting very personal – in their third and final debate on Wednesday, a just released Quinnipiac University poll find likely voters split 42 – 42 percent between both candidates, with 7 percent for Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie.
This compares to results of a September 24 survey showing Scott with 44 percent of likely voters, Crist with 42 percent and Wyllie with 8 percent.
With Wyllie out of the race, Scott and Crist are still locked at 44 – 44 percent.
The poll shows a sizable gender gap, with men and women just about cancelling each other out in the three-way matchup. Scott leads Crist among men 46 – 38 percent, with 10 percent for Wyllie, while Crist leads Scott 45 – 39 percent among women, with 6 percent for Wyllie.
According to the poll, among those who already voted, Crist gets 42 percent to Scott’s 38 percent.
With a mere 13 days to go until Election Day, 90 percent of voters who name a candidate say their mind is made up, while 10 percent say they might change their mind.
As the race enters the home stretch, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, Peter A. Brown said: “It’s just like many other races across the country – there is a sizable gender gap; tens of millions are being spent on negative TV ads and there is a dead heat in which neither candidate has an edge.”
Brown added: “For all the money spent on this race, it now appears the winner will be the one whose organization excels at the blocking and tackling of politics – getting their voters to the polls.”
Quinnipiac University surveyed 984 likely voters between October 14 – 20, and the poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.
