Democrats would fare better if former state Speaker Marco Rubio becomes the Republican nominee for Senate instead of Gov. Charlie Crist, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling.

Rep. Kendrick Meek, the likely Democratic nominee, trails 44 percent to 39 percent in a hypothetical matchup with Rubio and loses 46 percent to 33 percent when tested against Crist, the poll showed.

PPP, a North Carolina-based firm with a stable of Democratic clients, conducted its automated survey of 849 Florida voters March 5-8. The poll had a 3.4-point margin of error.

Looking just at the GOP primary, PPP found Rubio leading Crist 60 percent to 28 percent. The part of the poll that included only Republicans sampled the opinions of 492 likely primary voters and had an error margin of 4.4 points.

Earlier this week, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) tried to distance his committee from Crist’s campaign after endorsing the governor last year.

“Polls like this reflect the mood of the electorate, and the electorate is in a bad mood,” said Andrea Saul, communications director for the Crist campaign.

By Election Day, Saul said, “Charlie Crist will win this race and win it decisively.”