While he is currently running for the presidency and has said he will not seek a second term in the U.S. Senate, a new poll shows U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., would have the edge on potential rivals who are largely unknown.
Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to Democrats, released a poll showing Rubio running strong against U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., and Patrick Murphy, D-Fla.
Rubio leads Murphy 46 percent to 40 percent and does even better against Grayson, besting him 48 percent to 38 percent. Despite that, Rubio is upside down in the poll with 41 percent approving of him while 44 percent disapprove of him.
Murphy does better against some of the Republicans currently running. Matched up against U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., Murphy leads 40 percent to 35 percent. Murphy beats U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., by the same margin, 40 percent to 35 percent. When paired against Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Murphy is ahead 41 percent to 35 percent.
Grayson runs strong against Lopez-Cantera in the poll, besting him 41 percent to 34 percent, but does worse against the other Republicans. Jolly leads Grayson 39 percent to 36 percent. DeSantis edges Grayson 37 percent to 36 percent.
None of the candidates are well-known and Murphy is the only one above water with 22 percent seeing him as favorable, 18 percent viewing him in an unfavorable light while the rest are not sure about him.
Grayson is better known but a third of those surveyed -- 33 percent -- see him unfavorably while 18 percent see him favorably and the rest aren’t sure.
Jolly is seen as favorable by 17 percent, unfavorable by 19 percent with the rest undecided about him. Only 11 percent see DeSantis as favorable while 24 percent see him unfavorably and the rest aren’t sure about him. Lopez-Cantera’s numbers mirror DeSantis’ with 25 percent seeing him unfavorably and 11 percent seeing him in a favorable light.
Attorney Pam Keith is running for the Democratic nomination but she was not included in the poll. Also left out was businessman Todd Wilcox who is running for the Republican nomination. Former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has left the door open to running as a Republican.
The poll of 814 Florida voters was taken from Sept. 11 through Sept. 13 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
