A new poll shows Florida Republicans want favorite sons former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to run for president in 2016 even if Democrats and independents from the Sunshine State are far cooler to the idea.
St. Leo University released a poll on Wednesday which shows 63 percent of Florida Republicans want Bush to run for president while 58 percent of them think Rubio should aim for the White House. Only 20 percent of Florida Republicans think Rubio should stay out of the presidential race while 26 percent think Bush should not try for the presidency.
Florida Republicans seem to like both Gov. Bush and Sen.Rubio and they are happy they may run for president, said Frank Orlando, who teaches political science at Saint Leo University. Orlando warned that other voters in Florida are far less open to the idea. General election voters, as one would expect in a swing state like Florida, are split right down the middle.
With Democrats hostile to both a Bush and Rubio presidential bid, 45 percent of all Florida voters want them to stay out of the race while 40 percent of all Florida voters want Rubio to run and 45 percent want Bush to run. Bush does far better with independents in Florida than Rubio, with 50 percent wanting the former governor to run while only 32 percent of them say that about Rubio.
Matched up against each other, Bush beats Rubio with Florida Republicans, 54 percent to 36 percent.
Orlando noted that holding the Florida primary on March 15 should help Bush or Rubio win the nomination.
Its a huge thing (for a candidate for the Republican nomination for president) to win Florida early, said Orlando. This could potentially be another huge boost to the Bush or Rubio campaigns.
Its potentially great news for Jeb Bushs delegate count, resulting in major resources being expended, Orlando added. Bush is pinning all his hopes on winning Florida. Even if he performs poorly in some of the early primary states, he knows that Florida can act as his firewall to reboot his campaign. This change makes Florida almost as consequential as it is in the general election.
The poll shows Rubio in good shape if he decides to run for the Senate again instead of the presidency, with 52 percent saying they will or probably will vote for him while 37 percent say they wont or are leaning against him. Rubio does very well with Florida Republicans as 87 percent say they will vote for him or probably will support him if he runs for a second Senate term.
The poll of 522 Floridians, which was taken from March 15-21, had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
