There’s no clear favorite in the Republican primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2016, though U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla. is ahead of the other candidates, a new poll shows.
St. Pete Polls took a survey of likely Florida Republican primary voters for St. Petersblog which was released on Thursday. Jolly takes 22 percent while U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., garners 12 percent. Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who launched his Senate bid on Wednesday, pulls 11 percent and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., gets 9 percent.
But 23 percent of Republicans support other candidates (including businessman Todd Wilcox who was not included in the poll) while 22 percent are unsure. Jolly is the best known of the four candidates included in the poll but 59 percent of Florida Republicans are unsure about him. Despite Lopez-Cantera being Gov. Rick Scott’s understudy, 60 percent of those surveyed are unsure of him. Even more Republicans -- 63 percent -- are unsure of Miller and DeSantis.
Jolly and Miller are both above water in the survey. Jolly is seen as favorable by 22 percent while 19 percent view him in an unfavorable light. Miller does slightly better with 21 percent seeing the Panhandle congressman as favorable and 16 percent as unfavorable.
Lopez-Cantera and DeSantis are upside down in the poll. Both are seen as favorable by 17 percent while 22 percent view Lopez-Cantera as unfavorable and 20 percent see DeSantis as unfavorable.
The candidates are doing well on their home bases. Miller leads in the Pensacola TV market while DeSantis does well around Jacksonville. Jolly is running strong in the Tampa and Orlando markets while Lopez-Cantera does well around Miami.
The poll of 1,074 likely Republican primary voters was taken on July 15 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
