1146 19th St.

, NW, Suite 200 Interview dates: 14-18 May 2010

Washington, DC 20036 Interviews: 607 registered voters in Florida
(202) 463-7300 227 Democrats/Lean Democrats; 257 Republicans/Lean Republicans
Margin of error: + 4% for registered voters
+ 6.5% for Democrats; + 6.1% for Republicans

Political Polling in Florida: Wave 1

Research undertaken for: Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times, BayNews9, and Central Florida News 13

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted May 14-18, 2010 on behalf of the Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times,
BayNews9, and Central Florida News 13. For the survey, a representative, randomly selected sample of exactly 607 adults
aged 18 and older across Florida who are registered voters was interviewed by Ipsos. With a sample of this size, the results
are considered accurate within 4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire
population of registered voters in Florida been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error,
including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's
composition reflects that of the actual Florida registered voter population according to U.S. Census figures. Respondents were
contacted on both landlines and cellular phones, and had the option to be interviewed in English or Spanish. Please note that
throughout this document, figures based on Independent voters are indicative only due to very small sample size (25).

PARTY AFFILIATION / IDEOLOGY

1. Are you currently registered to vote, or not?

All adults Democrats Republicans Independents

Yes 100 100 100 100
No 0 0 0 0

2a. Do you consider yourself a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent or none of these?

(IF “DEMOCRAT” TO Q.2a, Q.2b ASKED. IF “REPUBLICAN” TO Q.2a, Q.2c ASKED. IF “INDEPENDENT” or
“NONE OF THESE” TO Q.2a, Q.2d ASKED. RESULTS SHOWN IN SUMMARY BELOW.)
2b. Do you lean strongly or only moderately toward the Democratic Party?
2c. Do you lean strongly or only moderately toward the Republican Party?
2d. Do your beliefs tend to lean more toward the Democrats or the Republicans?

Strongly Democrat 18
Moderately Democrat 14
Lean Democrat 7
Strongly Republican 17
Moderately Republican 15
Lean Republican 9
Independent (No lean) 5

Initial Democrats 34
Total Democrats 40

Initial Republicans 33
Total Republicans 41
Q3. I know it is a long way off, but thinking about the elections in 2010, if the election for US Senator were held
today, would you vote for Republican candidate Marco Rubio, Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek or
Independent candidate Charlie Crist [ROTATE NAMES]?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Marco Rubio (Republican) 27 8 51 12
Kendrick Meek (Democrat) 15 33 3 7
Charlie Crist (Independent) 30 38 26 39
Candidate from another political party 2 1 1 9
Will not / do not plan to vote 3 2 0 5
Undecided 23 18 19 29
*Note that Ipsos does not allocate undecideds this far out in the election cycle

Q4. And if the election for Governor of Florida were today and the candidates were Republican Bill McCollum and
Democrat Alex Sink [ROTATE NAMES], which one do you think you would vote for?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Bill McCollum (Republican) 34 11 65 26
Alex Sink (Democrat) 32 61 10 26
Candidate from another political party 4 2 4 5
Will not / do not plan to vote 4 2 2 12
Undecided 26 24 19 31
*Note that Ipsos does not allocate undecideds this far out in the election cycle

Q5. Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on
the wrong track? (ENTER SINGLE RESPONSE. IF UNSURE, ENCOURAGE BEST GUESS.)

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Right direction 31 53 14 26
Wrong track 58 33 80 60
Not sure / Refused 11 14 6 14

Q6A. Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way Barack Obama is handling his
job as President?
IF “APPROVE” OR “DISAPPROVE”, ASK: Is that strongly (approve/disapprove) or somewhat
(approve/disapprove)?
IF “HAVE MIXED FEELINGS/DK/REF”, ASK: If you had to choose, do you lean more towards approve or
disapprove?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Strongly approve 25 47 7 28
Somewhat/lean approve 23 33 10 27
Still have mixed feelings 6 3 4 2
Somewhat/lean disapprove 18 10 26 21
Strongly disapprove 29 7 52 22
Not sure 2 1 1 7

Total Approve 48 80 17 55
Total Disapprove 46 16 78 42
Q7. Generally speaking, would you say things in Florida are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the
wrong track?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Right direction 35 42 33 36
Wrong track 48 43 49 62
Not sure / Refused 17 15 18 2

Q8A. Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way Charlie Crist is handling his job
as Governor of Florida?
IF “APPROVE” OR “DISAPPROVE,” ASK: Is that strongly (approve/disapprove) or somewhat
(approve/disapprove)?
IF “HAVE MIXED FEELINGS /DK/REF,” ASK: If you had to choose, do you lean more towards approve or
disapprove?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Strongly approve 16 23 12 23
Somewhat/lean approve 36 38 34 39
Still have mixed feelings 10 5 13 2
Somewhat/lean disapprove 22 22 21 23
Strongly disapprove 17 12 20 12
Not sure 6 6 4 0

Total Approve 52 61 46 62
Total Disapprove 38 34 41 36

Q9. As you may know, Governor Charlie Crist has left the Republican Party and will be running for Senate as an
Independent candidate. Does this make you more likely to vote for him, less likely to vote for him, or has it not
changed your view of him? IF SAY ‘NOT CHANGED VIEW’ PROMPT WITH BELOW RESPONSES.

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
More likely to vote for him 24 36 12 26
Less likely to vote for him 21 11 35 10
Not changed my view – I would vote for
him in any case 25 28 23 29
Not changed my view – I would not vote
for him in any case 17 16 20 0
Not sure / Refused 12 8 9 35
Q10. Some people say that INSERT STATEMENT. ROTATE STATEMENTS. Other people say that INSERT
STATEMENT. ROTATE. Which of these views comes closer to your personal opinion?

All adults Democrats Republicans Independents

Charlie Crist’s decision to leave the Republican
Party was an act of principle because he is
following his convictions. 33 37 27 41
Charlie Crist’s decision to leave the Republican
Party was an opportunistic decision and is
purely political 47 42 54 40
Both 4 5 4 5
Neither 6 5 5 7
Not sure / Refused 11 11 10 7

I’m now going to ask you about Florida’s primary elections, which will be held in August, and will decide
which candidates run against each other at the general election this November.

Base: Democrat at Q2a/b/c/d (base = 227)

Q11A. If the Democratic primary for United States Senate were today and the candidates were Maurice Ferre,
Kendrick Meek, and Jeff Greene [ROTATE NAMES], which one do you think you would vote for?

Maurice Ferre 10
Kentrick Meek 33
Jeff Greene 9
Candidate from another political party 3
Will not / do not plan to vote 4
Undecided 41
*Note that Ipsos does not allocate undecideds this far out in the election cycle

Base: Republican at Q2a/b/c/d (base = 257)

Q11B. If the Republican Primary for Governor of Florida were today and the candidates were Bill McCollum,
Paula Dockery, and Rick Scott [ROTATE NAMES], which one do you think you would vote for?

Bill McCollum 46
Paula Dockery 3
Rick Scott 22
Candidate from another political party 1
Will not / do not plan to vote 4
Undecided 25
*Note that Ipsos does not allocate undecideds this far out in the election cycle
I am now going to ask you about some other topics

Q12. As you may know, Florida Governor Charlie Crist recently vetoed the teacher tenure bill that was approved
by Republicans in the Florida State House and Senate. This bill would have replaced multi-year contracts for new
teachers, commonly known as ‘tenure’, with annual evaluations.

Do you agree or disagree with the Governor’s decision to veto the bill? PROMPT IF NEEDED: Is that strongly /
tend to?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Strongly agree 39 41 35 35
Tend to agree 14 13 16 26
Neither agree nor disagree 7 6 6 7
Tend to disagree 10 11 9 11
Strongly disagree 19 18 23 15
Don’t know / Refused 12 11 11 7
Total agree 53 54 51 60
Total disagree 29 29 32 26

Q13. As you may know, Florida’s State Legislature has passed a new bill that would require ultrasound tests for
pregnant women seeking abortions in the first trimester. The woman would be required to pay for the ultrasound,
and look at the image or listen to a description of the image on the ultrasound. The new bill would also mean that
the woman’s insurance would not cover the abortion if her employer accepts any government funds.
Do you believe that Florida Governor Charlie Christ should veto this bill or allow this bill to pass into law?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Veto 55 60 47 72
Pass 31 26 40 26
Don’t know / Refused 14 14 12 2

Q14. Some people have suggested that Florida’s State Constitution should be amended to ban drilling for oil or
natural gas in Florida waters, which extend to 10 miles off the coast.
Do you personally support or oppose a constitutional amendment to ban offshore drilling in Florida?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Support a ban on offshore drilling 44 48 38 54
Oppose a ban on offshore drilling 44 41 51 35
Don’t know / Refused 11 11 11 11
Q15. As you may know, the state of Arizona recently passed a new law that, once police stop a person, requires
local law enforcement officials to verify the immigration status of people they reasonably suspect of being in the
country illegally.

Now, thinking about this new Arizona immigration law, imagine that Florida was considering passing the same
immigration law that Arizona has just passed. Would you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose or
strongly oppose this law being passed in Florida?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
Strongly Favor 40 24 54 50
Somewhat Favor 19 18 21 15
Somewhat Oppose 11 12 11 16
Strongly Oppose 24 39 11 14
Don’t know / Refused 6 7 3 4
Total Favor 58 42 75 65
Total Oppose 36 51 22 30

Q16. As you may know, the Tea Party movement emerged in 2009 to protest the federal government's stimulus
package. They staged a series of protests and rallies across the US. Participants are opposed to increased tax
and large-scale government spending. To what extent, if at all, do you personally identify with the ideals of the
Tea Party movement?

Independent
All adults Democrats Republicans s
I identify with them strongly 22 7 41 8
I identify with them 11 7 17 5
I identify with them a little 22 22 23 46
I do not identify with them at all 33 51 12 42
Don’t know / Refused 12 13 7 0
Identify with them at all
(Top3Box) 55 37 81 58