With the presidential race in full swing, a new poll shows few Florida voters are paying much attention to the race to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2016. Currently running for the Republican presidential nomination, Rubio has said he will not run a second term in the Senate.
A poll from St. Leo University finds almost two-thirds--64 percent--of Florida voters likely to cast ballots in the Republican primary were not sure who they would back in the Senate race. U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., is the favorite candidate of 9 percent while 7 percent prefer U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. Businessman and veteran Todd Wilcox pulls 5 percent while 4 percent back Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Conservative activist Ilya Katz garners 3 percent and 9 percent prefer other candidates.
State CFO Jeff Atwater and former state Attorney General Bill McCollum, both of whom have opened the doors to running for the Republican nomination, were not included in the poll.
Almost half of likely Democratic primary voters--49 percent--are not sure who they will support in the Senate race. U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., gets 18 percent of these voters while U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., pulls 15 percent of them. Life coach Latressa Jones, who ran for lieutenant governor outside of the major parties last year, gets 7 percent while 2 percent back attorney Pam Keith and 11 percent prefer someone else.
“For now It appears both races are ‘up for grabs’ but it’s really too early to tell,” said Frank Orlando who teaches political science at St. Leo University. “The Republican race is wide open as no one is rising to the top and ‘unsure’ is the big winner. On the Democratic side, it’s a two-horse race between Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson. Overall, it will be a very interesting race to watch support-wise and it means a lot to both parties in Washington.”
The poll of 409 likely voters was taken from Oct. 17-Oct. 22 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
