On July 9th Loranne Ausley received a polling memo from Hamilton Campaigns regarding her race for CFO. The memo is explained below. This is the second poll that shows Ausley within single digits of her opponent.
Loranne Ausley has a path to victory in the race for Chief Financial Officer. Ausley begins in a statistical dead heat with State Senate President, Republican Jeff Atwater (31% Ausley – 34% Atwater – 9% other – 26% undecided in the initial vote preference). After voters hear information about each candidate, Ausley opens up a large lead over Atwater (50% Ausley
25% Atwater – 11% other – 14% undecided in the informed vote preference).
Ausleyʼs background as a lawyer and former state legislator who will clean up the mess in Tallahassee and hold politicians accountable for their spending helps her overcome Atwaterʼs initial name identification advantage. Meanwhile, Atwaterʼs record as vice president of a bank that failed in April of this year, costing the FDIC $500 million dollars, and the repeated examples of pay-to-play politics, is something voters completely reject as they become more aware of Atwaterʼs actions in office. With proper funding to communicate the messages on Atwaterʼs record, Ausley can be considered the favorite in the November general election.
In a generic vote preference that places business experience versus cleaning up Tallahassee and increasing accountability, voters prefer a candidate who will clean up the mess in Tallahassee, by a wide margin. Loranne Ausleyʼs profile attracts voters across the state, while Atwaterʼs business experience and background do not appear to connect with voters. Moreover, the two NPA candidatesʼ support is 64% Republican and Independent, meaning they pull more support from Atwater than Ausley.
He even took over $340,000 in political contributions from insurance companies while voting to allow insurance companies to increase rates on homeowners by over 72 percent. Loranne Ausley is in a strong position in the general election for CFO of Florida. She has the right background and the right message to win voters who are tired of the status quo, and special interests that run the state capitol. For Ausley to win, she must continue aggressive fundraising efforts to increase her name identification and show voters how she will end the pay-to-play politics of Tallahassee, while Jeff Atwater has worked the system to give millions of dollars in state contracts and special projects to political supporters.
