Backed by a multi-millon dollar television ad campaign, political upstart Rick Scott leads Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, 44-31 percent, for the Republican nomination for governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday. The poll found that six in 10 voters say they could still change their minds before the primary race, set for August 24.
According to Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, “these results show that money can buy enough television ads to make political neophytes serious contenders for major political office.”  Brown also noted in a statement that, it certainly does not hurt that the 2010 election year is shaping up to be “the anti-establishment candidate.”
McCollum once had a sizable lead over Republican State Senator Paula Dockery, the only contender who is no longer in the race. However, those margins have evaporated with the entry of Scott into the race in spring and his preparedness to spend millions to secure his party’s nomination.
“In addition to being a testament to the power of television, Scott’s ability to take the lead so quickly is also a reflection on McCollum’s lack of strong support within his own party despite his two decades in Florida politics,” said Brown.
The poll revealed that Scott is viewed favorably by 40 percent of Republicans, unfavorably by 12 percent and 46 percent are unable to form an opinion as they don’t know enough about him. By contrast, McCollum, who has spend a decade in Congress and is in his third statewide race, is viewed favorably by 41 percent, unfavorably by 19 percent and a whopping 36 percent don’t have an opinion.
Scott, who is a former health care executive, has built his ad campaigns around his support for an immigration law similar to Arizona, to which McCollum is opposed. In his campaign ads he has also had to defend the largest Medicare fraud in the US in which Columbia/HCA Healthcare engaged, when he was its CEO. Scott defines the $1.7 billion fine which his former company had to pay to the government as “mistakes.”
The poll was conducted among from June 2 – 8 among 814 Republican likely primary voters and has a margin of error of +/-Â 3.4 percentage points.
