With a little over a month remaining before the Nov. 2 election, Florida's three-way race for U.S. Senate is turning into a two-man race — for second place.

A statewide poll released Saturday night shows Republican Marco Rubio building on his lead over independent challenger Charlie Crist, while Democrat Kendrick Meek appears to be closing in on Crist in the closely-watched contest.

Rubio is favored by 40 percent of likely voters, up from 38 percent last month; Crist's support has dwindled to 28 percent from 33 percent, according to the Mason-Dixon Research & Associates survey of 625 likely Florida voters. The margin of error: plus/minus four percentage points.

The poll found that Meek is gaining on Crist, with his support rising to 23 percent of likely voters, up from 18 percent. Nine percent are undecided.

"Rubio seems to be in a solid position to win, while Crist is fading," Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker said. "Crist is bleeding Democrats to Meek and independents to both Meek and Rubio."

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