GOP Poll: 'Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are Up and Marco Rubio is Down'

No doubt about it, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is being eclipsed by other possible candidates for the Republican nomination. Democratic firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) released a national poll back in April which found Rubio leading the 2016 pack with 21 percent but a poll released Friday finds him with considerably less support.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., leads the Republican field with 16 percent followed by three candidates -- former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin -- tied with 13 percent each. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who took 7 percent back in a PPP poll in May, is in fifth with 12 percent. Rubio stands in sixth with 10 percent, less than half of his support in the April poll. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana take 4 percent each followed by Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico with 2 percent.

The trend in the Republican primary field is pretty clear, said Dean Debnam, the president of PPP. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are up and Marco Rubio is down.

Rubio has been losing favor with some conservatives in recent months for his support of immigration reform, helping pass the legislation backed by the Gang of Eight in the Senate.

The poll of 500 Republican primary voters was taken from July 19-21 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent.