Rep. Connie Mack IV has only been in the race for the GOP senate nomination for two days and he already has a monster lead. He's ahead of the rest of the field by double digits in one-on-one match ups, and seems to have a wide base of support among various strands of the Republican base.
Here's the numbers from the latest Public Policy Polling survey:
- Adam Hasner - 3 percent
- George LeMieux - 12 percent
- Connie Mack IV - 40 percent
- Mike McCalister - 4 percent
- Craig Miller - 3 percent
- Not Sure - 38 percent
As the son of former Senator Connie Mack III (and, not to mention, great-grandson of baseball legend Connie Mack Sr.), the congressman from Southwest Florida certainly has instant name recognition, but PPP finds that even among voters who are familiar with the other candidates, he still has a large lead:
-Among voters familiar with Hasner, Mack leads Hasner 41-5.Mack, while more of a moderate than some other candidates in the race, has higher support among Tea Party voters than your regular rank-and-file Republicans. Forty-three percent of Tea Partiers view him favorably, while only 36 percent of non-Tea Party Republicans do. Though, it seems that non-Tea Party Republican aren't sure what to make of the field. Forty-one percent say they're not sure who to vote for, compared to just 32 percent of Tea Partiers who haven't made up their mind.
-Among voters familiar with LeMieux, Mack leads LeMieux 40-25.
-Among voters familiar with McCalister, Mack leads McCalister 36-15.
-Among voters familiar with Miller, Mack leads Miller 36-8.
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