Here Are The Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #13121

Geography Surveyed: Florida
Data Collected: 12/15/2007 - 12/16/2007
Release Date: 12/17/2007 9:10 AM ET
Sponsors: WFLA-TV Tampa, WKRG-TV Mobile-Pensacola

FLORIDA GOP PRIMARY -- Huckabee's Support Triples Among Conservatives as he Closes-In on Rudy: In a Republican Primary in Florida for President of the United States today, 12/17/07, six weeks to the vote, Rudolph Giuliani finishes 1st at 29%, Mike Huckabee is 2nd at 24%, and Mitt Romney is 3rd at 20%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WFLA-TV in Tampa and WKRG-TV in Pensacola-Mobile. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released two weeks ago, on 12/04/07, Giuliani is down 3, Huckabee is up 6, Romney is up 5, Fred Thompson is down 6 and John McCain is flat. Giuliani's entire campaign strategy is predicated on a 1st-Place showing in Florida. Among Conservative Republicans, Huckabee's support has tripled over the past 6 weeks, from 11% on 11/06/07, when Huckabee tied for 4th place, to 32% today, when Huckabee is ahead of all challengers. Today, Huckabee leads in NW Florida and is tied with Giuliani in NE and Central Florida. Giuliani leads slightly in SW Florida and leads convincingly in SE Florida. Among voters age 50+, Huckabee, Giuliani and Romney are in a 3-way tie. Among all FL GOP Primary voters, Fred Thompson has fallen from 22% on 11/06/07 to 8% today. John McCain has finished 4th or 5th in all 4 SurveyUSA FL tracking polls to date.

Filtering: 2,000 state of Florida adults were interviewed 12/15/07 and 12/16/07. Of them, 1,753 were registered to vote. Of them, 431 were identified by SurveyUSA as being likely to vote in the 01/29/08 Florida Republican Primary. On 12/15/07, Giuliani in Tampa made what many describe as a pivotal speech if Giuliani is to blunt Huckabee's advance and shore-up his own support. The speech was widely reported on TV and in newspapers during the field period for this survey. Today's tracking poll is the first since Mitt Romney's Religion in America speech on 12/06/07.