Poll shows Fla. incumbent leads Harris

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris is trailing by a wide margin in her bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record), according to a poll issued Wednesday.

Nelson was favored by 61 percent compared to 33 percent who preferred Harris, who party leaders had tried to force out of the race, and 6 percent were undecided. The results were gathered in a random telephone sampling of 783 likely voters, conducted Oct. 3-8 by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

In a larger sampling of 968 registered voters, Nelson was favored by 56 percent to Harris's 31 percent with 11 percent undecided. A similar poll taken in July found Nelson with 61 percent to 24 percent who liked Harris.