New polling gives Brad Drake 40 point lead over Bev Kilmer in HD 5 primary

In his bid to win re-election, state Rep. Brad Drake has a 40 point advantage over fellow former Rep. Bev Kilmer in the GOP primary for House District 5 in Florida’s Panhandle, according to a new poll.

In a St. Pete Polls survey commissioned by FloridaPolitics.com, the Marianna Republican leads Kilmer by an overwhelming 55-15 percent; just under 31 percent were undecided. Drake, after a single term in the House, stepped aside in 2012 to allow Rep. Marti Coley to finish out her term when redistricting put them in the same district.

Drake defeated Jan Hooks in a GOP primary last year 76 percent to 24 percent, but Kilmer may be able to bring more campaign cash to bear in the 2016 contest.

Kilmer served in Tallahassee from 1999 until 2005 before leaving the Legislature to pursue the congressional seat then held by Democrat Allen Boyd.

Boyd trounced Kilmer by 62 percent to 38 percent margin in a 2004 presidential cycle that saw Republicans gain three seats nationally.

House District 5 covers the largely rural Holmes, Jackson, Walton, Washington, plus part of Bay counties.

In addition to leading the primary, Drake also enjoys strong approval ratings with likely Republican District 5 voters, with a positive rating of nearly 57 percent, and only 12 percent negative. Thirty-one percent say they are undecided about him.

In contrast, Kilmer, seems to be struggling with name recognition, as 59 percent of respondents say they are unsure about her. She does get 22 percent approval and 19 percent with an unfavorable opinion.

Drake receives strong Republican support across the board – in all gender and age groups – while Kilmer does slightly better with younger voters (18-29 years of age), getting 27 percent. On the other hand, that might be because younger voters are the least undecided (12 percent). Drake receives an substantial 65 percent of those voters as well.

The poll used automated phone call polling system, which randomly selected 339 active Republican registered voters. Pollsters weighted the results to account for demographics of House District 5 by race, age, and gender. The scientific results have a +/- 5.3 point margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.