Hasner Tops Fla. Tea Party Poll for US Senate

The tea party in Florida is backing the former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner as their favored candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, a new straw poll shows. Hasner received 50 percent of the first-place votes in the straw poll, the Sunshine State News reported Monday.

The Tea Party Fort Lauderdale conducted the poll, which showed Hasner garnered 62 percent of the first- and second-place ballots cast in the survey conducted May 7 to 14. He was followed by Mike McCalister with 12 percent of the firs-place votes and 24.5 percent of the second-place ballots.

Former Sen. George LeMieux took 10 percent and 19 percent of first- and second-place ballots, respectively. Mike Haridopolos came in at 1 percent and 3 percent, the poll showed.

The poll indicated that it’s still a wide-open race, however, with 23.5 percent of those polled indicating that they’re undecided when asked for a first-place choice, and 38.5 percent choosing undecided as a second choice.

Danita Kilkullen, who heads the Tea Party Fort Lauderdale, said the results of the last few election cycles shows that the Republican establishment’s choice for the GOP nomination many not become the nominee in the end.

“Haven’t they learned in recent history from the Crist-Rubio and McCollum-Scott debacles … just to name a few?" she asked.

Hasner’s senior adviser Rick Wilson told Sunshine State News:
"I think this shows that Adam's principled, conservative message is resonating with activists across Florida. They know he'll stop the spending, control the borders and stand up for conservative values in the U.S. Senate."