Both men seeking the Republican nomination to become Florida’s next U.S. senator lead their likely Democratic opponent by double digits.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey of Florida voters shows Governor Charlie Crist leading Representative Kendrick Meek by a 46% to 34% margin. In August, Crist led by 19 and in June he was ahead by 21.

Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio leads Meek by a similar margin, 46% to 31%. In August, Rubio led by 13 percentage points.

Crist currently holds a 49% to 35% lead over Rubio among likely Republican Primary voters.

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The survey also finds that 59% favor drilling for oil off the coast of Florida while 33% are opposed.
To help protect the environment, 29% favor banning all paper and plastic shopping bags, but 60% oppose such a ban.

Six percent (6%) rate the economy as good or excellent while 63% say poor. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say economic conditions are getting better, but 47% say they're getting worse.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of Florida voters approve of Crist’s job performance, and an equal number disapprove. Those figures reflect a significant decline since August when 59% voiced their approval of the job he was doing.

Crist has announced he will not seek reelection to run for the seat vacated by Republican Senator Mel Martinez. The popular governor hurt himself with many of his fellow Republicans when he endorsed President Obama’s economic stimulus plan earlier this year, and Rubio is challenging him from the right. Rubio has recently won a series of straw polls over Crist among Republican activists.

Holding the Senate seat at the moment is George LeMiuex, the governor's chief of staff whom he appointed to replace the retiring Martinez earlier this year. LeMiuex, who calls himself a “Charlie Crist Republican,” is not running for a full term next November.

Seventeen percent (17%) of Florida voters have a very favorable opinion of Crist, while 13% view him very unfavorably.

Meek, a fourth-term African-American congressman from a district on Florida's East coast, is viewed very favorably by 10% and very unfavorably by 12%.

Thirteen percent (13%) see Rubio very favorably, but nine percent (9%) have a very unfavorable opinion of the Cuban-American legislator from Miami.

At this very early stage of the campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the very favorable and very unfavorable figures more significant than the overall favorability totals.

Forty-two percent (42%) of Florida voters approve of the job Obama is doing, unchanged since August. His ratings in Florida are a bit lower than that the national numbers in the Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking poll.

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