Chip LaMarca says his numbers poke holes in Democrats’ HD 93 poll

Florida House Democrats released some polls last week that built up hype for some of their down-ballot candidates, but according to one Republican running for state House, those numbers are off.

The campaign of Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca hit the House Victory polls for being based on an online tally compiled by a company that’s only been around for a year. It’s end result: Democratic contender Emma Collum with a 2-point lead over LaMarca, a Republican, in House District 93.

Polls from inside the LaMarca campaign tell a much different story.

A live dial poll of 300 respondents conducted by Voter Opinions and sponsored by a pro-LaMarca political committee showed LaMarca with a 6-point lead over Collum.

More recently, another live dial poll of commissioned by the Republican Party of Florida and conducted by McLaughlin & Associates showed LaMarca’s lead expanding to 9 points over Collum. That measure, conducted from July 21 through July 23, also took 300 responses and.

From the first poll to the second, there was also some troubling news for the generic ballot — it fell from plus-6 in favor of the Democrats in April to just plus-2 in favor of Team Blue by late July. These polls weren’t loaded for the GOP, the campaign says, as each used a turnout model to account for potentially higher Democrat turnout.

With those results in his pocket, LaMarca says he’s is no stranger to competitive elections, having won his Broward County Commission seat twice, even though Democrats have a 9-point advantage in voter registrations.

When it comes to November, LaMarca’s campaign is working hard, both at the grassroots efforts and on the fundraising trail — As of Aug. 3, he’s cracked $300,000 in hard money fundraising.

And his support is broad-based and diverse, with endorsements from business organizations such as NFIB and AIF, labor organizations, the Florida Realtors, and statewide and local firefighters and police organizations.

House Democrats may be salivating over HD 93, but Chip LaMarca says he, not Collum, is the frontrunner.