Darren Soto poll has him leading CD 9 race, but 65 percent are undecided

There’s a crowded scramble among Democrats clamoring to succeed Alan Grayson in Congress next year, and according to his pollster, state Sen. Darren Soto is looking good for the spot right now.

Soto is the 37-year-old state senator representing the 14th District, which includes parts of Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties in central Florida. He’s running against Susannah Randolph, an activist and former congressional district director for Grayson, biochemist Dr. Dena Minning (currently Grayson’s girlfriend), former state representative Richardo Rangel and businesswoman Valleri Crabtree.

Citing a poll that shows him leading the field with 25 percent support, Soto’s pollster, Thomas Eldon, says that it’s obvious he’s the clear early front-runner in the race for CD 9.

The poll shows Soto with 25 percent, Randolph at 6 percent, Minning at 3 percent and Ricardo at just 1 percent.

Left unsaid is that the vast majority, 65 percent, is undecided.

The poll also shows that Soto is leading with Grayson supporters, women, and self-described liberal and moderate voters in the district.

Soto says it would be “an honor” by making history as the first Puerto Rican congressman from Florida and the first Hispanic elected to Congress from Central Florida.

“With FL 09 shifting from an Orlando-based district to Osceola and Polk counties, Soto is able to establish a base of support due to the overlapping of the Senate district he has represented since 2012. Osceola County is also home to the large Hispanic population in the district,” Eldon writes.

“Sitting at 25 percent with a geographic base in SD 14 and Osceola County, plus a commanding position as the Hispanic candidate in the race while the other candidates sit in single digits with little name awareness (Soto was the only candidate with more than 20 percent net awareness), well, you get the picture. On the heels of a successful fundraising quarter, this is another piece of good news that all but confirms Soto as the clear front-runner.”

Elton says his poll consisted of 400 likely primary-voting Democrats, was conducted in English and Spanish accordingly by accent-neutral bilingual interviews from Oct. 28 to Sunday. County: Osceola 39 percent, Polk 38 percent, Orange 23 percent. Ethnicity: 53 percent White, 21 percent Hispanic, 18 percent African- American.