Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead in Florida over her potential Democratic rival, a new poll shows.
Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling (PPP) released a poll of Florida Democrats Tuesday which shows Clinton as the early favorite in the Sunshine State, blowing out the field with 58 percent support. Vice President Joe Biden takes a very distant second with 14 percent followed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. with 10 percent. Warren has said she will not run if Clinton enters the contest.
The other candidates lag in low single digits. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., takes 3 percent, followed by former Gov. Martin OMalley, D-Md., with 2 percent. Former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., trails with 1 percent.
The poll shows Clinton is well-regarded by Florida Democrats, with 73 percent seeing her as favorable and 17 percent not.
Biden does slightly worse. Still, two-thirds of Florida Democrats -- 67 percent -- see the vice president as favorable; 20 percent see him as unfavorable.
Warren is far less known. Despite that, a majority -- 55 percent -- of the Florida Democrats surveyed see her in a favorable light, though 17 percent see the Massachusetts senator as unfavorable.
President Barack Obama, who carried the Sunshine State twice, was underwater in general in Florida, but his supporters still believe in him, according to the PPP poll, with 87 percent of Floridians who backed him in 2012 still approving of him.
The poll of 371 registered Florida Democrats was taken March 19-23 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.1 percent.
Clinton won the Florida primary in 2008, taking 50 percent. Obama placed second with 33 percent, while former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., took third with 14 percent. Biden had already pulled out but took 1 percent regardless. So did former Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
