ZOGBY POLL SHOWS CRIST HOLDING COMMANDING LEAD; SMITH GAINING

With just under five weeks remaining before the September 5 primary and two weeks before absentee voting begins, there is nothing really new or surprising from the results of the Zogby International poll of 1,007 registered Florida voters commissioned by the Miami Herald and taken last Monday through Thursday (July 31 - August 3).

Among Republicans, Attorney General Charlie Crist continues his tremendous lead over primary opponent State Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, 41 - 21 percent with 38 percent undecided or supporting another candidate. Crist's strongest numbers are here along the I-4 corridor, but Gallagher seems to be narrowing the gap in North and South Florida.

In the Democratic race, Congressman Jim Davis' lead over State Senator Rod Smith continues to narrow, with only a five percentage point gap between the two. Davis leads in Central and South Florida; only in his home region of North Florida is Smith in front. The real news here continues to be the huge number of undecided voters, measured by Zogby at 58 percent.

Among the 15 other candidates who have qualified to be on the ballot, none received more than three percent support among the voters polled.

Zogby made note that Republican primary voters polled in Florida and Georgia tend to be ''much more united, conservative and pro-George W. Bush'' than in other Republican states such as Illinois and California.

The margin of error in this most recent poll is 4.5 percentage points.