Another poll in the Democratic race for governor shows what most other polls have shown, the race remains a wide-open contest.
The latest survey, conducted by Raba Research, shows Philip Levine with a slim 1-point lead over Gwen Graham. Levine received support from 27 percent of Democratic voters likely to cast ballots in the August 28 primary. Graham received 26 percent.
Chris King, who has consistently finished in fourth place in most previous polls, had a strong showing in the Raba survey receiving support from 15 percent of the voters surveyed.
“The race is coming down to the wire. Phillip Levine and Gwen Graham lead the field with Chris King coming in a strong third,” said John Davis of RABA Research. “The coming weeks will be critical in determining whom Democrats put up as their nominee.”
Andrew Gillum came in fourth in the survey with 8 percent, with Jeff Greene receiving 3 percent.
Greene is a newcomer to the field of Democratic candidates, filing to run earlier this month. A real estate investor who reported his financial wealth at $3.3 billion in his qualifying papers, Greene reiterated Wednesday afternoon that he is willing.to “spend whatever is needed to get the message out.” He told the Associated Press he is would spend up to $200 million of his own money to fund his campaign.. He announced earlier this week a self-funded $2.9 media buy.
The Raba poll shows Graham has the highest favorability ratings of the five candidates. Of the Democrats surveyed, 46 percent had a favorable opinion of Graham, compared to 9 percent who had an unfavorable view. Levine received favorable ratings from 36 percent, while 16 percent viewed him as unfavorable. King received favorable marks from 29 percent, with 11 percent viewing him as unfavorable. Gillum’s favorable rating was 26 percent, with 10 percent seeing him as unfavorable.
Greene is the only Democrat who is upside down in how voters view him. Just 11 percent gave Greene favorable views with 21 percent seeing him as unfavorable. Sixty-eight percent are unsure.
The survey of 660 Florida Democrats was conducted June 15 – 16. Raba Research receives a “C” grade by the political website FiveThirtyEight. Raba stands for “red american, blue america. The research firm was founded in 2016 by a bipartisan group of political professionals.