Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, is struggling against the top Republican candidates in a new poll of the pivotal swing state, Florida.
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. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is also running for the Democratic nomination, also has a majority of those surveyed -- 52 percent -- seeing him as unfavorable while a third -- 32 percent -- see him favorably.
Carson is seen as favorable by a majority -- 53 percent -- while 30 percent view him unfavorably. Rubio is viewed as favorable by 51 percent while 40 percent see him unfavorably.
Some of the other leading Republicans are upside down. Despite wining two terms as governor, Bush is seen as unfavorable by 47 percent but 43 percent see him favorably. Trump is seen as favorable by 36 percent while 59 percent view him unfavorably. A majority -- 57 percent -- see Huckabee as unfavorable and 31 percent view him favorably. Paul is seen as favorable by less than a quarter of those surveyed -- 23 percent -- while almost two-thirds -- 64 percent -- see him as unfavorable.
A majority of Florida voters -- 55 percent -- think the nation is headed in the wrong direction while only 35 percent think it’s on the right track.
The poll of 801 Florida voters was taken Sept. 17-20 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
