A new poll of likely voters shows competitive races in two Northeast Florida contests, those for state attorney and public defender.
Incumbents Angela Corey and Matt Shirk are struggling against challengers.
The UNF poll finds the challengers running to replace Corey and Shirk have opened double-digit leads.
Melissa Nelson is outpacing Corey in the state attorney’s race, and retired judge Charles Cofer tops Shirk in the polling for public defender.
UNF pollster Michael Binder says the August 30th primary is going to be “a very interesting election.” Voting is closed to unaffiliated and Democratic voters because of write-in candidates.
“A well-known incumbent (Angela Corey) trailing by 10 points at this stage of the race suggests that her campaign is in deep trouble,” Binder said. “Perhaps the highly publicized controversies surrounding the state attorney’s office have taken a toll.”
In a separate poll of likely Republican voters, former Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford is the favorite among Republicans in the Congressional District 4 race, with 27 percent of voters’ support. Hans Tanzler trails with 13 percent, but nearly half of voters, 46 percent, are still undecided. The winner of that primary will face Democrat David Bruderly in the heavily Republican district.
Click here to listen to the entire First Coast Connect interview with Michael Binder about the polls and how he interprets the results.
