With former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., announcing on Friday that he will not run again for the Republican presidential nomination, former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., is the candidate to beat in the Florida primary.Saint PetersBlog commissioned St. Pete Polls to look at the Republican presidential primary as Romney heads to the sidelines, and the poll shows Bush leads the GOP field.
Bush takes 35 percent with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in distant second with 15 percent. But Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., a dark horse, has emerged and moved up right behind Rubio. With 14 percent, Walker is breathing down Rubios neck, a sign that his potential candidacy has taken off in recent weeks.
The other potential candidates are in single digits. Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., and Dr. Ben Carson, who moved to Florida after his celebrated career as a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins, are tied with 6 percent each. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., takes 5 percent. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, takes 4 percent followed by another Texan in former Republican Gov. Rick Perry who takes 2 percent. Other candidates command the support of 12 percent of those surveyed.
The poll of 1,676 Florida Republican voters was taken from Jan. 30-Feb. 2 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percent.
In recent days, there has been a flurry of activity as Republicans get ready to line up for 2016. Romney announced he would not run again while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former Gov. George Pataki, R-N.Y., have opened the door to entering the contest. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., who ran in 2008, has been traveling across the county promoting his new book and has hit key states like Iowa and Florida.
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