Polls show Scott has single-digit lead over McCollum

Poll results released today bring good news for establishment candidates Bill McCollum and Kendrick Meek, who have been fighting for their political lives against wealthy self-financed candidates who are challenging them in the primaries.

A new Mason-Dixon poll conducted for Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association reveals that multimillionaire Rick Scott's lead over attorney general Bill McCollum has a 6 point edge over McCollum, a narrower lead than other recent polls that show Scott enjoying double-digit leads over McCollum. This latest poll shows the spread at just 37 percent to 31 percent, with 29 percent still undecided.

The poll's results are similar to those released earlier today by Associated Industries of Florida, which shows Scott running 7 percentage points ahead of McCollum.

"Hispanic Republicans favor McCollum over Scott by a 3-1 margin, which now is keeping McCollum in the race," said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, in a release.

"Perhaps Hispanic Republicans have been put off by Scott's use of immigration as a wedge issue in the primary, while McCollum has communicated a position quite similar to that of Marco Rubio, which gives him some cover among Florida's Cuban Republican community."

McCollum and Scott debate tonight.

In the Democratic race for U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek has a slight lead - 33 percent to 29 percent, just inside the poll's margin of error-over real estate magnate Jeff Greene, after trailing him by up to double digits in other polls for several weeks.

Meek, who has conserving his more limited financial resources until now, recently started his own television advertising buy and began a 10-day campaign bus tour designed to get publicity in local media markets throughout Florida.

Mason-Dixon conducted the poll of 625 likely Democratic primary voters and 625 likely Republican primary voters was conducted from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4. It has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.