Former Gulf Breeze mayor Ed Gray is the front-runner at the start of the campaign to replace the late Clay Ford in Florida House District 2, followed by Tea Party leader Mike Hill and Scott Miller. This according to the first public poll conducted of the May 14 GOP primary. The poll was commissioned by SaintPetersBlog.com.
Gray commands 27% of likely Republican primary voters, followed by Hill and Miller at 13%. Former Pensacola City Councilman Jack Nobles comes in fourth at 10%, while David Radcliffe and Mark Taylor are both in low single-digits.
Thirty-three percent of respondents said they were unsure of whom they are voting for.
“The poll verifies what I’m hearing on the streets,” said Pensacola-based blogger and reporter Rick Outzen. “In a compressed race such as this, name recognition is critical. Gray has the most positives in this race.”
Voters were also surveyed about the favorability of George Scarborough, who last week announced he would not run in the special election. That looks to be a smart decision as 34% of voters hold an unfavorable view of Scarborough, while just 20% have a positive opinion. Forty-seven percent were unsure.
The automated poll was conducted on Saturday, April 6 and has a sample size of 344 and margin of error of 5.3% with a 95% confidence level.
