January 26, 2010 - By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Charlie Crist was in a close race with former state lawmaker Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat, a poll released Tuesday showed.

Rubio, a lawyer who served as Speaker of the House, was once considered a long shot against Crist, who has widespread name recognition and a significant fundraising lead. But with Florida’s primary less than seven months away, Rubio was favored by 47 percent compared with 44 percent who preferred Crist, a gap that put the candidates about even in the Quinnipiac University poll that has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

The random telephone survey, which included 673 registered GOP voters, was conducted Jan. 20-24.

The latest survey marks a stunning turnaround for the 38-year-old Rubio, a conservative who trailed Crist by 31 points in a Quinnipiac survey taken in June.

The U.S. Senate seat is now held by Republican George LeMieux, who was appointed by Crist last summer to fill the rest of former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez’s term. Martinez retired to spend more time with his family in Orlando.

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