Rubio maintains lead in Florida Senate race

A new poll out Thursday shows Republican Marco Rubio maintaining his double-digit lead in Florida's three-way Senate contest.

The Quinnipiac poll shows Rubio with a 13-point edge over Gov. Charlie Crist (I). Rubio garners 46 percent of the vote to Crist's 33. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) remains stuck in third with 18 percent. 

The findings mirror the result of a slew of polls in the month of September that give Rubio a double-digit lead over his rivals. 

Even though Crist is polling well behind Rubio, the poll found that likely voters still approve of the job he's doing as governor — 51 percent to 43.

"If Gov. Crist winds up losing the race, he may kick himself for giving up his day job in Tallahassee," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll.  

Anger at the federal government and opposition to the Democratic leadership in Washington are both factors driving support toward Tea Party favorite Rubio.

A full 48 percent of likely voters told Quinnipiac they are "angry" with the federal government. And by a margin of 53-41 percent, respondents said they want a senator who will oppose the policies of President Obama. 

The survey polled 1,151 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.