Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, released a national poll this week that found four candidates -- including two favorite sons from Florida -- in front of the pack for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 while Hillary Clinton has a large lead over other Democratic hopefuls.
The poll finds U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida ahead of the field by the skin of his teeth. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida is tied in second with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky places fourth with 14 percent.
The rest of the pack stands in single digits. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, best known for being Mitt Romneys running mate in 2016, takes 9 percent followed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with 7 percent. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who challenged Romney for the Republican nomination in 2012 and has made no secret of his ambitions to try again, takes 5 percent of those surveyed. Two governors lag behind the field with Bobby Jindal of Louisiana taking 3 percent and Susana Martinez of New Mexico getting 1 percent.
While Republicans remain divided on who they want to see as their presidential candidate in 2016, Democrats have a clear favorite. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is way out in front with 63 percent, followed by Vice President Joe Biden with 13 percent.
The rest of the Democratic field is way behind in low single digits. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York garners 4 pecent while two senators -- Mark Warner of Virginia and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- are knotted together with 3 percent apiece. Gov. Martin OMalley of Maryland takes 2 percent while other candidates -- U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, and former Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana -- take 1 percent each.
The results of both polls are very similiar to a survey taken by New England College of New Hampshire, the traditional first primary state, released earlier in the week. That poll found Rubio, Bush, Paul and Christie battling to lead the Republican field, while Clinton had a vast lead with Biden in distant second and the rest of the Democratic pack far behind.
The poll of 806 Republican primary voters was taken from May 6-9 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent. The poll of 589 Democratic primary voters was taken during the same period and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News.
