Attorneys general in many states responded to recent healthcare reform by threatening or filing lawsuits.

Florida's Bill McCollum was among these individuals. The Republican attorney general who is now running for governor may have benefited from suing the federal government last week, according to a recent poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.

Fifty-one percent of respondents said they approved of McCollum's lawsuit, compared to the 39 percent who were opposed. His popularity as an attorney general has also improved, according to the poll. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported viewing him in a positive light now, compared with the 29 percent who did so last June.

"The lawsuit probably gave McCollum a little lift and has put him in a strong position, but there's more going on here," Brad Coker, a Mason-Dixon pollster, was quoted as saying.

The poll's results also show that McCollum has more bipartisan appeal than his gubernatorial opponent, Florida's chief financial officer Alex Sink.

Immediately following passage of the healthcare reform bill, McCollum field a lawsuit claiming that provisions mandating universal insurance violated Article 1 of the Constitution. He also wrote that such legislation would greatly increase financial burdens for states hoping to cover rising health insurance quotes.