Drew Wilson
The first poll since Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene entered the Democratic primary for Governor may indicate trouble for Gwen Graham’s chances among South Florida Democrats.
The survey, conducted by respected pollster Tom Eldon, polled Broward County and Palm Beach County Democrats and found Greene pulling 6 percent support in his home county, and 3 percent support in Broward.
Overall, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine leads the two-county poll with 39 percent support, followed by Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum at 9, Graham at 8, Winter Park businessman Chris King at 5 and Greene at 4. The remaining third said they were undecided.
Based on those numbers, it looks like Greene’s siphoning supporters from Graham, not Levine as some Democratic onlookers primary have theorized. Of course, the landscape could change substantially if Greene were to actually start campaigning — he’s still radio silent one week after filing his paperwork.
The last regional poll of South Florida Democrats, commissioned by Levine adviser Christian Ulvert in April, showed Levine leading Graham 42-15 on his home turf with Gillum and King in the single digits.
In the new poll, Levine leads No. 2 finisher Andrew Gillum on the Broward side 38-12, followed by Graham at 11 percent and Greene and King with 3 percent support apiece.
The effect is even more pronounced in Palm Beach, where Graham slips into last place in the poll — a rarity for the North Florida Democrat, who generally lands in the top two with Levine.
That half of the poll also showed Levine as the top pick, ahead of his distant second King 40-8. Gillum and Greene tied at 6 percent a piece, while Graham nabbed just 4 percent among Palm Beach Dems.
The new poll also noted a high number of “surge Democrats” — those who reported paying “much more attention” to political and national news since the election of Donald Trump. Among the 60 percent of respondents identified as such, 45 percent were voting for Levine with Graham in second at 10 percent.
The SEA Polling survey was conducted June 3-5 by bilingual accent neutral interviewers reading from a translated script in English and Spanish. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.24 percentage points.
