A new poll shows U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), is upside down in the Sunshine State as she draws closer to a U.S. Senate bid while U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is in solid shape if he decides to run for a second term instead of the presidency in 2016.
Mason-Dixon released a poll on Tuesday which shows only 19 percent of Florida voters have a favorable view of Wasserman Schultz while 36 percent see her as unfavorable and 21 percent are neutral. Rubio does much better with 46 percent seeing him as favorable, 21 percent viewing him in an unfavorable light and 29 percent being neutral.
Pitted against each other in a potential 2016 match-up, Rubio claims 53 percent while Wasserman Schultz takes 36 percent.
Wasserman Schultz also comes up short against state CFO Jeff Atwater who increasingly appears likely to run for the Senate if Rubio decides to aim for the White House. In recent weeks, Atwater was in Washington, D.C., where he met with the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) about a potential 2016 Senate bid.
Atwater is seen as favorable by 24 percent while only 5 percent see him as unfavorable. But, despite Atwater winning two terms in a statewide office, 39 percent of those surveyed are neutral about him and 32 percent are not sure.
Matched up against Wasserman Schultz, Atwater leads 45 percent to 35 percent. In a memo with the poll, J. Brad Coker, the managing director of Mason-Dixon, called Atwater a solid second choice for Republicans.
If Rubio sticks with his presidential run, the GOP has a strong back-up candidate in state CFO Jeff Atwater, Coker noted.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., has also received some notice as a potential Senate candidate in 2016, but the poll shows most Florida voters arent familiar with the sophomore congressman. Two-thirds of those surveyed -- 67 percent -- are not sure about Murphy while 16 percent see him as favorable and 3 percent see him in an unfavorable light.
Rubio beats Murphy 50 percent to 38 percent in the poll. Atwater does slightly better, leading Murphy 46 percent to 32 percent. Still, Coker noted Murphy offers Democrats a better shot than Wasserman Schultz for 2016 if they hope to flip the Senate seat.
From these numbers, it is clear that Murphy offers a cleaner slate for Democrats to work with than Wasserman Schultz, Coker wrote.
The poll of 800 Florida voters was taken from March 3-5 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
