Scott Powers
A straw poll at the Casselberry Chamber of Commerce Thursday night followed the same line of favorites revealed earlier this week in a Seminole County Republican straw poll, easily preferring Adam Putnam for governor, Ashley Moody for attorney general, and Scott Sturgill for Congress.
The Casselberry straw poll, conducted of more than 300 members, differed from the Seminole Republican poll in that the chamber poll was non-partisan and included Democrats and others.
Not that Democrats found much support.
Among the 20 candidates listed for governor from all parties, Republican Putnam grabbed 45 percent, easily doubling second-place Republican U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who got 20 percent. Democrat Gwen Graham picked up 14 percent and no one else even got 5 percent.
For attorney general, Republican Moody got 49 percent, followed by Republican state Rep. Frank White with 27 percent; Democratic state Sen. Sean Shaw, 13; and Democrat Ryan Torrens, 8.
In the race for Florida’s 7th Congressional District, Republican Sturgill picked up 41 percent; Republican state Rep. Mike Miller, 30 percent; Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy 23; Democrat Chardo Richardson, 4; and Republican Vennia Francois, 2.
Republican Gov. Rick Scott took 61 percent in the U.S. Senate race, while Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson got 30 percent. Republican Rocky De La Fuente drew 9 percent.
Republican Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis topped his Democratic challenger former state Sen. Jeremy Ring 74 to 26.
In the race for Florida agriculture commissioner, Matt Caldwell easily led a thick pack by drawing 44 percent, while the surprise was that pro-marijuana Democrat Nikki Fried finished second, beating the other three Republican candidates as well as the two Democrats with more establishment backgrounds. She got 17 percent.
In Florida House races, Republican David Smith and Republican incumbents Scott Plakon and Bob Cortes all got more than 70 percent.
In Seminole County Commission races, Jay Zembower easily topped four opponents in the District 2 race, while Joe Durso and Amy Lockhart nearly tied in the District 4 race, with Durso coming out on top 51-49.
