With polls showing them ahead, presidential hopefuls former U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and businessman Donald Trump brought out the big guns to seal the deal in Florida before Tuesday’s primary.
Clinton is calling on her husband former President Bill Clinton to nail down the Sunshine State. The former president hit North Florida on Monday with appearances scheduled in Jacksonville and Tallahassee before heading down to Winter Park to close the day with a rally at Rollins College.
Members of Congress are also trying to help the Clinton campaign in Florida on Monday. U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-NY, is scheduled to help rally voters for the Clinton campaign in Miami Beach on Monday night. U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., made the case for Clinton in an op-ed for Time, urging Florida voters to back her in the primary.
Polls show Clinton poised to win Florida over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. A Quinnipiac University poll of Florida Democrats released on Monday showed Clinton taking 60 percent while 34 percent back Sanders.
On the Republican side, Trump has the lead over U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and other GOP hopefuls in the Sunshine State. Quinnipiac released a poll on Monday which has Trump out front with 46 percent, Rubio in second with 22 percent, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, taking 14 percent and Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, with 10 percent.
With his lead in the polls, Trump canceled events in Florida to focus on North Carolina and Ohio which also hold primaries on Tuesday. Trump turned to former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, to help him keep his lead in Florida. The former Republican vice presidential hopeful stumped for Trump in Arcadia and Plant City on Sunday. Palin was supposed to have campaigned for Trump in the Villages on Monday but a family emergency forced her to cancel her appearance.
“Todd Palin was in a bad snow machine accident last night and is currently hospitalized,” the Trump campaign noted on Monday. “Gov. Palin is returning to Alaska to be with her husband and looks forward to being back on the campaign trail soon. Mr. Trump’s thoughts and prayers are with the Palin family at this time.
“Gov. Palin wishes her best to Mr. Trump in the upcoming primaries,” the Trump team noted in an email to the media sent out late on Monday morning.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
