former florida gov. charlie crist. | ap photo/chris o'meara by matt dixon 10/13/16 09:40 am edt tallahassee - democrat charlie crist has a commanding lead over republican david jolly, according to a poll released thursday by the university of north florida. the new numbers have crist up 54-36 in the race in pinellas county<u+2019>s 13 th congressional district. story continued below <u+201c>this relatively large lead for crist is due, in part, to name recognition, and i think this will play out in other races as well,<u+201d> said michael bender, faculty director of the public opinion research lab. <u+201c>donald trump and hillary clinton have dominated the media, making it a struggle in this environment for candidates without highly recognized names.<u+201d> jolly, the incumbent, has the support of 70 percent of republicans polled, while crist has the support of 86 percent of democrats. crist is a former republican governor and had a difficult time winning over some in the democratic base when running for governor as that party<u+2019>s nominee in 2014. crist also has a dominating lead with minority voters. he is winning the black vote 87-5 and topping jolly with hispanic voters 72-18. the seat was redrawn during a redistricting fight and now favors democrats. as a result, jolly initially decided to run for u.s. senate, but got back in the house race after his senate bid failed to gain momentum. like many races across the country, donald trump has become a central figure in the campaign. jolly<u+2019>s camp is calling for a tv ad to be pulled showing him with donald trump, a man with whom he says he never met, according to the tampa bay times. the group superimposed jolly<u+2019>s head over the person meeting with trump in the video. the unf poll was conducted oct. 9-11 using live telephone interviews of 611 likely voters. the sample was pulled from the state voter file and weighted to consider the likely voter demographics, including gender, race, and party registration. marc caputo's must-read briefing on what's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the sunshine state.
unf poll: jolly losing to crist, with trump a factor in race
matt dixon