MyDD :: FL-Sen: Harris a lock in Republican primary

FL-Sen: Harris a lock in Republican primary

by Chris Bowers, Sat Jul 23, 2005 at 11:16:28 AM EST

Worried about Harris not winning the Republican nomination for Senate in Florida next year? Well, even though the primary is over a year away, I wouldn'y be too worried if I were you. Strategic Vision's latest puts Harris in a commanding lead:

Below are the poll results based on telephone interviews with 1200 registered voters in Florida, aged 18+, and conducted July 16 - 20, 2005. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

29. Who would you support for the Republican nomination for United States Senator in 2006? (Republicans only)

Katherine Harris       52% 
Tommy Franks	     16% 
Toni Jennings	      8% 
Alan Bense	      7% 
Mark Foley	      5% 
Dave Weldon	      2% 
Daniel Webster	      1% 
Undecided		      9%

30. Who would you support for the Republican nomination for United States Senator in 2006, if the choices were Katherine Harris and Alan Bense? (Republicans only)

Katherine Harris       59% 
Alan Bense	     13% 
Undecided		     28%

A lot of this is name recognition, but name recognition is a very, very good thing to have in a primary. This puts both the national and the Florida Republican party in a real bind. Just as much as it would appear that Harris cannot be beaten in a primary, it also appears that there is no way she can beat Nelson in the general. Short of Harris dropping out / being forced out, Nelson looks like a very good bet to retain his seat next year. It will be interesting to see if there is an atempt to force her out, since that might be the only way for Republicans to pick up this once highly vulnerable Democratic seat.

Tags: Senate 2006 (all tags)

Permalink :: 7 Comments :: Post a Comment

Jeb Bush for FL-Senate? (none / 0)

Any chance that Jeb Bush might not want to wait till 2016 (after two term Democrat in the White House following Bush II disaster) and that he might think he's got a better chance for a Senate seat now?

by ROGNM on Sat Jul 23, 2005 at 11:55:40 AM EST

Re: Jeb Bush for FL-Senate? (none / 0)

Doubt it. The skills he has a governor would make him a disaster in a campaign for Senator.

by beerwulf on Sat Jul 23, 2005 at 05:38:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Harris is going nowhere (none / 0)

Harris won't drop out of the primary. In her mind they still owe it to her for 2000.

by mjshep on Sat Jul 23, 2005 at 01:02:27 PM EST

Awww... (none / 0)

And I so wanted that dickhead Franks to run...

http://operationyellowelephant.blogspot.com/

by Vote Hillary 2008 on Sat Jul 23, 2005 at 03:34:05 PM EST

doesnt matter she will get it (none / 0)

my personal feeling is that she will get the nomination, and eventually the win. She will do it the same way Bush won 2000 and 2004 and the way Max Clelland of ga. lost it.
I think the republicans will keep taking elections until they get their super-majorities in the senate and the house.

by gartie on Sat Jul 23, 2005 at 08:24:46 PM EST

Cruella statewide (none / 0)

Wasn't Katherine Harris' position as Secretary of State a statewide elected position?

She inherited ambition and reportedly close to $7 million from her cattle and citrus tycoon grandfather, and she focused her energies on winning a state Senate seat in 1994. In the 1998 race that saw her elected Florida secretary of state, she ran a fierce campaign that included scorching attacks in the primaries against a Republican mentor and friend, according to Time magazine ( Source)

I know her successor, Glenda Hood was appointed by Jeb Bush.

Ok, here it is. She won with 2 million votes (53.7%) over Karen Gievers (D).

Cruella has enough baggage that her beating an incumbent is a longshot, but I wouldn't salivate that much. She could force Nelson to spend some serious dollars defending his seat.

by freedc on Sun Jul 24, 2005 at 02:41:15 PM EST

Jeb isn't running... (none / 0)

As an FL Democrat i follow this very closely he said he was retireing into Privite life i don't think the Senate is a Privite life also Harris the Makeup ball who had the weakest house victory in all of FL (even though the district is heavy Rep.) is locked in the Dems. will hold it Nelson is about in the Same boat as Jhon Ensign from Nevada he has heavy support from his own party and Independents. the one to watch is the govenors race... -Nelson/Chiles 06'

Running the Davis, Nelson Klein team in Florida.

by Liberal on Tue Aug 09, 2005 at 01:11:01 AM EST

You are not logged in.

In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.

If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.