Harris trails Nelson in Fla. Senate poll

TAMPA, Fla. --Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson leads challenger Katherine Harris by 18 percentage points in a new poll, although the Republican congresswoman has gained some ground among GOP voters.

Nelson leads Harris 53 percent to 35 percent, according to the Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. poll commissioned by Florida newspapers and released this week. Ten percent were undecided, and 2 percent planned to vote for other candidates.

The poll was conducted among 625 likely voters Sept. 20-22 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Harris has long trailed Nelson and her campaign has been plagued by an initial lack of support from party leaders and staff defections.

But she has cut Nelson's lead by 10 percentage points since July. Her boost likely came from a decisive primary victory over three relatively unknown political newcomers, said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon.

Still, Nelson's lead has not dipped below 15 points since June 2005 against Harris, who gained prominence as Florida's secretary of state in the disputed 2000 election that gave George W. Bush the White House.

"We're back to where we were nine months or a year ago," Coker said. "Nelson could probably go to the Bahamas for the rest of the campaign and he'd still be safe."

The poll shows about 64 percent of Republicans back Harris and 23 percent support Nelson. Nelson holds a commanding lead among Democrats, 81 percent to 9 percent.

Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks said there is still enough time to make up a double-digit deficit. Marks said she was "confident we're going to completely close the gap," and predicted there would "definitely be crossover voters" supporting Harris.

"Our message of cutting taxes, reducing spending and protecting our borders resonates across the political spectrum," she said.

Nelson spokesman Bryan Gulley said, "We're not taking anything for granted."