Crist Leads Senate Race by 11 Points

Switching from a Republican to an Independent hasn't hurt Florida governor Charlie Crist's chances at winning a seat in the U.S. Senate.

The Florida chamber has released a poll that shows Crist on top, leading Republican Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek, the likely Democratic nominee for the seat, by 42-31-14. The survey queried 607 likely Florida voters earlier this month.

Bill McCollum -- the Republican Florida attorney general who is vying to replace Crist as governor -- looks to be slipping in the polls, possibly because of the George Rekers scandal. As attorney general, McCollum approved spending over $120,000 to use Rekers as a defense witness in a court case that challenged Florida's ban on gay adoptive parents.

Rekers's testimony was already judged to be biased, and Rekers was caught in May traveling with a male escort. McCollum is trailing Rick Scott for the Republican nomination for governor by five percentage points.

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