Bush Gains in Battleground State of Florida - Poll

[MDM4AU 336]

Bush Gains in Battleground State of Florida - Poll

Wed Sep 29,10:31 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) has gained ground over Democratic nominee John Kerry (news - web sites) in Florida, a key battleground state, extending his lead to nine points in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of likely voters released on Wednesday.

The survey of likely voters showed 52 percent would vote for Bush and 43 percent for Kerry. A similar poll conducted from Sept. 18-22 showed Bush with 49 percent compared to Kerry at 46 percent.

Among registered voters in the latest poll, Bush had a five-point lead with 49 percent against 44 percent for Kerry. In the Sept. 23 poll, the percentages were 47 for Bush and 45 percent for Kerry.

The CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll survey of 879 registered voters in Florida and a subsample of 704 likely voters was conducted by telephone between Sept. 24 and Sept. 27.

The margin of error for both likely and registered voters was plus or minus 4 percentage points. Likely voters are considered a more reliable sample than registered voters.

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