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Florida: Vern Buchanan Up in GOP Poll

Rep. Vern Buchanan (above) is leading Democrat Keith Fitzgerald in a new poll of Florida's 16th district race. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (above) is leading Democrat Keith Fitzgerald in a new poll of Florida's 16th district race. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

A new survey from Republican pollster Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies found Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) comfortably ahead of his Democratic opponent in Florida’s newly configured 16th district.

In a horse-race matchup, Buchanan led Democrat Keith Fitzgerald by 22 points, 54 percent to 32 percent. It’s the same lead Buchanan had in a March poll conducted by Bolger.

Despite multiple investigations into alleged campaign finance irregularities, Buchanan’s favorable ratings remain positive. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of him while 33 percent had an unfavorable view of him. The GOP poll found Fitzgerald largely unknown, with a 16 percent favorable rating and a 7 percent unfavorable rating.

Adam Scott, Fitzgerald’s campaign manager, noted the investigations of Buchanan that are under way, including one reportedly by the FBI. “Of course he released a bogus poll,” Scott said. But he also said he didn’t have a poll of his own.

The district is comfortable Republican turf. Roll Call rates the race as Likely Republican.

The POS poll surveyed 400 likely voters via live telephone interviews July 15-16. It had a margin of error of 4.9 points.

Read the memo here:

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