Thompson Leads Giuliani In New Insider Survey For Florida Chamber

Poll Is First To Exclude Gingrich From Choices

(9/12/07) In a statewide survey of registered Florida voters who said they were likely to vote in next January’s Republican primary, former Sen. Fred Thompson led former Mayor Rudy Giuliani by a six-point margin. The telephone survey of 500 likely voters in the GOP primary - conducted as part of a larger survey for the Florida Chamber of Commerce Sept 6-10 - had a margin of error of 4 percent and was weighted for age, race, gender, and political affiliation.

The poll was first reported by our sister publication, Southern Political Report.

On the Republican side, the results were:

Thompson: 27%
Giuliani: 21%
McCain: 9%
Romney: 8%
Huckabee: 4%
Brownback: 3%
Paul: 2%
Hunter: 1%
Undecided: 25%

Matt Towery, nationally syndicated columnist (Creators Syndicate) Matt Towery, who also is CEO of InsiderAdvantage, said:

“Another survey released today shows Rudy Giuliani in the lead over Thompson. However, that survey includes Newt Gingrich in the survey question. Since Newt is currently not a candidate, and - unless Thompson crumbles, will not be a candidate - we felt a ‘non-Newt’ survey would provide a better overall view of the GOP field. Having Newt in a poll takes votes away from candidates and forces others to be undecided.” Towery served as Gingrich’s campaign chair until he resigned from the House in the late 1990s.

Towery added: “Because of the Democratic Presidential Primary and the DNC’s so-called ban on counting delegates from the January 29 primary, the poll indicates that a good number of the some 2 million individuals who are registered as independents will participate heavily in the GOP primary, along with a small crossover of Democrats who might change registration. Florida is holding a statewide vote related to property tax relief on each ballot on the same day.”

He concluded: “The Florida Chamber’s political director, Marian Johnson, who is considered the dean of political experts in Florida, attributes the Thompson lead to his recent announcement as well as recent media heavy appearances in the state. I agree with her assessment.”

On the Democratic side (again, 500 sample) the results were:

Clinton: 36%
Obama: 18%
Edwards: 8%
Biden: 9%
Gravel: 2%
Kucinich: 2%
Richardson: 1%
Dodd: 1%
Undecided: 21%