Two Florida Republicans have gained the edge over former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Sunshine State, a new poll shows.
Mason-Dixon released a poll on Monday which shows former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio have the lead over Clinton in Florida, which is expected to be the largest swing state in the 2016 presidential election. Most polls have shown Clinton with a slight lead or a tossup in the Sunshine State.
Bush and Rubio are ahead because both are running stronger with independents, insisted J. Bradfrod Coker, the managing director of Mason-Dixon, in a memo accompanying the poll.
Bush beats Clinton 47 percent to 43 percent. Both candidates do well with their respective parties but Bush leads Clinton 46 percent to 36 percent with voters outside the major parties. Clinton leads with voters younger than 35 but Bush does better with other age groups, especially with seniors. Bush runs strong in the north, central and southwestern parts of the state but Clinton does well in the southeastern part. Men go for Bush 54 percent while 39 percent back Clinton, while women lean Clintons way 46 percent to 42 percent for the Republican. Clinton gets 92 percent of African-American voters but whites go for Bush 57 percent to 32 percent. Hispanics go Clintons way, 45 percent to 38 percent.
Rubio does even better, besting Clinton 49 percent to 43 percent, carrying the same parts of the state that Bush does and winning over voters outside the major parties by 9 percent over the Democrat. While Clinton still runs strong with African-Americans and Rubio overwhelmingly carries white voters, the candidates are neck and neck with Hispanics. Clinton has the narrowest of leads over Rubio with that group, edging him 46 percent to 45 percent.
The poll finds all three candidates are well-known in Florida. Rubio is seen as favorable by 46 percent while 27 percent see him as unfavorable. Bushs numbers are similar, with 45 percent viewing the former governor in a favorable light while 31 percent see him as unfavorable. Clinton is barely above water in Florida with 41 percent seeing her as favorable and 39 percent viewing her as unfavorable.
The poll of 625 Florida voters was taken from April 14-16 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Mason-Dixon also looked at the Democratic primary and found 40 percent of Florida Democrats would consider voting for other candidates besides Clinton while 39 percent are definitely behind her and 12 percent will definitely vote against her in the primary.
The poll of 400 Florida Democrats was taken from April 14-16 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
