Welcome to

Florida’s Gubernatorial race will be one of the most watched in the country. As Matt Galka tells us, the two likely candidates aren’t exactly winning popularity contests.

With less than 100 days to go before Florida’s Gubernatorial election, it’s looking like the likely frontrunners could use a friend.

“Voters don’t like either of the major candidates,” said Quinnipiac Pollster Peter Brown.

45% of voters surveyed in the most recent Quinnipiac poll give Governor Rick Scott a negative approval rating.  42% of voters have an unfavorable view of likely Democratic foe Charlie Crist.  Both have approval ratings of just 40%.

If these numbers hold, the pair could become the least liked pair of candidates in governor’s race in the past 10 years, according to data website fivethirtyeight.com.

But FloridaState political science professor Charles Barrilleuax says that the numbers do little more than make politicians feel bad.

“People recognize it and it may give them a real sense about the candidates but the date suggests it doesn’t seem to effect their voting very much, or doesn’t effect their voting in a statistically significant way, and it doesn’t effect turnout,” said Barrilleaux.

Spending indicates that both candidates care about the numbers. The GOP has spent more than $16 million on ads, with Democrats spending around $3 million.

And with plenty of time left to sling mud, expect the spending to go up…and the popularity to go down.

Registered voters are used for Quinnipiac Polls which doesn’t mean everyone surveyed will turn out to vote.  Experts say that because there is no presidential election and it’s tougher to get people to cast ballots, voter turnout could end up favoring Republicans.