Now trailing many of the top Republican candidates in Florida polls, in the largest swing state on the map, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, will be heading to the Sunshine State this week.
Clinton’s team announced during the weekend that she will be heading to Davie Friday for a “grassroots organizing meeting ... as part of the campaign’s ongoing effort to build an organization outside of the four early states and work hard for every vote.
“During the event, Clinton will lay out the case for her campaign and directly ask supporters to get involved,” Clinton’s team emailed the media.
The event will be at Broward College Friday afternoon.
The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) weighed in Monday morning on the news that Clinton is headed to the Sunshine State.
“While Hillary Clinton attempts to convince South Florida donors and voters that her negative headlines, FBI investigations, and unsuccessful record is not hurting her campaign, the truth is that hardworking Floridians are ready for a change from the dishonest, unsuccessful leadership that Clinton is offering," said Wadi Gaitan, a spokesman for the RPOF.
A poll released last week shows Clinton needs to turn things around in the Sunshine State. Florida Atlantic University (FAU) released a poll Wednesday showing Clinton faring badly against some of the leading Republican candidates. Dr. Ben Carson routs Clinton 52 percent to 40 percent in the poll. Two Florida Republicans -- former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio -- lead Clinton by 8 percent apiece. Rubio takes 50 percent while Clinton pulls 42 percent and Bush is up 49 percent to 41 percent. Businessman Donald Trump does worse against Clitnon, but still edges her 46 percent to 45 percent.
Clinton does better against two of the dark horses for the Republican nomination. Matched against U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Clinton leads 44 percent to 40 percent. She beats former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., in the poll, 48 percent to 44 percent.
Kevin Wagner, a professor of political science at FAU, said Clinton carried a lot of baggage into the Sunshine State.
“The survey shows a substantial negative view of Hillary Clinton, leaving room for other candidates to compete with her in both the general and primary elections,” said Wagner.
Clinton is upside down in the poll with a majority -- 54 percent -- of those surveyed seeing her as unfavorable while only 41 percent see her in a favorable light.
The poll of 801 Florida voters was taken Sept. 17-20 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.
Clinton made a serious stumble in Florida in recent days. Florida Politics reported that the Clinton camp contacted Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, the former chairman of the RPOF, about endorsing her bid.
“When Lenny Curry won the contest in the Jacksonville mayor’s race it was a victory for Jacksonville and a step closer to victory for Republicans in 2016,” Gaitan said on Friday. “The Hillary Clinton campaign’s disconnect with Jacksonville’s new mayor, who was the former Florida GOP chair, is part of their greater unawareness that Florida voters are not sympathetic to a dishonest, out-of-touch candidate.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
