Libertarian Wyllie Gaining Traction in Florida Governor’s Race

Florida’s Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Adrian Wyllie, is gaining ground in the latest Quinnipiac University Poll, which came out yesterday.

The survey shows Governor Rick Scott leading Charlie Crist by 44% to 42%, with the Libertarian nominee in third place at 8%.

Those trying to make the case that Wyllie is tipping the election one way or another by “stealing” votes from a major party candidate should be disappointed by the new numbers. When Wyllie’s name is removed from the poll, Scott still holds a 2-point lead at 46% to 44% for Crist.

The poll also showed that Wyllie was the only candidate with a positive favorable rating among Florida voters. Wyllie is liked by 8% and disliked by 4%, though the vast majority (86%) say they don’t know enough about the candidate to form an opinion yet. Scott’s favorable rating is 42% and his unfavorable number is 48%, while Crist is liked by 41% and disliked by 49% in the survey.

The survey went on to ask more questions about the major party candidates. Only 39% rated the Republican governor as “honest and trustworthy” while only 37% felt that way about his Democratic challenger.

“When fewer than four in 10 voters think both the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor are honest, you know this has been one of the nastiest races in state history,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “They have been throwing so much mud that they both are covered in it.

“The two voter groups that will tell the tale of the election are independent voters and those who are backing Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie. Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist are doing about the same with their respective party bases and former Republican Crist is not having any trouble being accepted by members of his new party.

“Wyllie voters are the bigger unknown because there is little way of predicting if they will stay with the third-party challenger or decide to switch to Scott or Crist in order to be with a winner,” Brown added.

“At this point, neither major party candidate is doing markedly better as a second choice of Wyllie voters. It is also worth considering that there is a consensus that negative campaigning tends to be a turnoff more to the very people who seem to hold the keys to the kingdom – independents and third-party voters.”