A new poll shows half of Florida Republicans and almost that many Florida Democrats remain undecided on who they want to see replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the U.S. Senate. Currently running for the Republican presidential nomination, Rubio is not seeking a second term in the Senate.
On Wednesday, Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Business & Economics Polling Initiative (BEPO) released a poll looking at the two Senate primaries.
On the Republican side, half of those surveyed--50 percent--are still undecided. U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., pulls more than a quarter of Florida Republicans, taking 28 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera are knotted together with 8 percent each. Other candidates pull 7 percent in the poll.
Businessman and Army veteran Todd Wilcox, who is running for the Republican nomination, was not included. Nor were potential candidates including former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and conservative leader Dan Bongino who ran for federal office in Maryland in 2012 and 2014.
On the Democratic side, 45 percent remain undecided. U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., has the support of 27 percent of Florida Democrats while U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., gets 20 percent. Other candidates get 8 percent in the poll. Attorney and Navy veteran Pam Keith was not included in the poll.
The poll of 345 likely Florida Republican U.S. Senate primary voters was taken from Jan. 15-Jan. 18 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.2 percent. The poll of 371 likely Florida Democratic U.S. Senate primary voters was taken over the same dates and had a margin of error of +/- 5.0 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
