Even as he ponders running for a second term at the last minute, a new poll shows Marco Rubio offers the GOP the best chance to retain control of his Senate seat.
Quinnipiac University released a poll showing Rubio with a solid over two Democratic congressmen running for the seat. Rubio leads Patrick Murphy 47 percent to 40 percent. When paired up against Alan Grayson, Rubio leads the Democrat 48 percent to 40 percent. Rubio gets mixed marks with 45 percent of voters approving of him and 44 percent disapproving of him. But despite getting blown out in the Florida presidential primary in March, Rubio does well with Republicans as 71 percent approve of him and 17 percent disapprove of him.
"With Republican national leaders worried about keeping control of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Marco Rubio might ride to their rescue if he decides to reverse field and seek reelection," said Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, on Wednesday. "This Quinnipiac University poll finds Sen. Marco Rubio in good shape when matched against his two potential Democratic opponents.
"None of the other Republican candidates for Sen. Rubio's seat has a lead over either of the two Democrats, Congressmen Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson,” Brown added. “But if Rubio's last-minute decision is to seek re-election, he could be in the driver's seat.”
Rubio has until noon on Friday to file for a second term. While he closed the door to running for reelection during his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Rubio has opened it again after the jihadist terrorist attack in Orlando earlier this month. Prominent Republicans, including presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the NRSC leadership have urged Rubio run for reelection.
Grayson and Murphy do better against the current field of Republican candidates, the poll shows. Grayson leads businessman Carlos Beruff 40 percent to 33 percent. When matched up against Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Grayson leads 40 percent to 35 percent. Grayson tops Congressman Ron DeSantis 41 percent to 33 percent. When squared off against businessman Todd Wilcox, Grayson leads 39 percent to 34 percent.
Murphy generally has a larger lead over the Republicans than Grayson does. Against Beruff, Murphy leads 43 percent to 31 percent. Matched against Lopez-Cantera, Murphy takes 41 percent while the lieutenant governor gets 32 percent. Murphy takes 42 percent and DeSantis garners 32 percent. Against Wilcox, Murphy leads with 41 percent while the Republican claims 31 percent.
Congressman David Jolly pulled out of the Republican primary on Friday to run for another term in Congress. He was included in the poll as well and trailed both Democrats by 7 percent.
The poll of 975 Florida voters was taken from June 8-June 19 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.
