A new poll shows former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has the lead in the Florida Democratic presidential primary but there is room for Vice President Joe Biden if he decides to enter the race. Biden is currently contemplating launching a third presidential bid.
Quinnipiac University released a poll on Thursday which shows less than half of the Florida Democrats -- 48 percent -- are behind Clinton. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., takes second with 15 percent while Biden gets 11 percent without running.
The other candidates are not factors in Florida. Gov. Martin O’Malley, D-Md.., and former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pull 1 percent each. Former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Lincoln Chafee, D-R.I., takes less than 1 percent.
Asked about who they would not support in the primary, 14 percent said Clinton, 12 percent chose Biden, Chafee and Webb were ruled by 11 percent each and Sanders and Webb were no-gos for 10 percent each.
Clinton is still in very strong shape with 80 percent of Florida Democrats seeing her as favorable while 15 percent view her as unfavorable. But Biden does even better on that front as 80 percent see him as favorable while only 10 percent view him as unfavorable. Sanders is also in good shape with 51 percent of Florida Democrats seeing him as favorable and only 7 percent viewing him in an unfavorable light.
The other candidates are far less known. O’Malley is seen as favorable by 11 percent and unfavorable by 7 percent. Chafee is treading water, with 10 percent seeing him as favorable while 9 percent see him as unfavorable. Webb is upside down with only 10 percent viewing him in a favorable light while 17 percent see him as unfavorable.
The poll of 345 Florida Republicans was taken from Aug. 7-18 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
