It is a good week for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the confirmed Republican Party presidential candidates.

New polling data has Rubio ahead against fellow GOP candidates and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Although the margin of victory is narrow, Rubio received more support than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, with 15 percent to 13 percent, respectively. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ranked third with 11 percent.

All other Republican presidential candidates provided in the Quinnipiac University poll received less than 10 percent of the vote. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a confirmed Republican presidential candidate, received 9 percent, ahead of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's 8 percent.

Rubio's bounce to first place comes one month after he was ranked eighth place in Quinnipiac University's March poll. In March, Rubio received 5 percent of support, losing to Walker -- previously in first place -- and Bush, who maintained second place.

Rubio also managed to prove a challenge to Clinton. In a hypothetical general election match-up between Clinton and Rubio, the former secretary of state received 45 percent of the vote as the Florida senator received 43 percent. The two-point spread was the narrowest margin in comparison to Clinton and any other GOP presidential candidate in the poll.

"The youngest member of the GOP presidential posse moves to the front of the pack to challenge Hillary Clinton whose position in her own party appears rock solid," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "This is the kind of survey that shoots adrenalin into a campaign. Marco Rubio gets strong enough numbers and favorability ratings to look like a legit threat to Hillary Clinton."

As Malloy mentioned, Clinton's favorability rating received mix results. While her favorability rating is higher compared to the GOP field, her unfavorable rating is also as high. Clinton's favorability rating ticked at 46 percent, one-percentage point lower from her unfavorable rating of 47 percent.

"Yes she is a leader, but can she be trusted? Mixed reviews for Hillary Clinton on key character traits," Malloy added.

Rubio's favorability rating was 35 percent, the highest in the GOP field. His unfavorable rating was 25 percent. More millennials, however, "haven't heard enough" about Rubio to form an opinion about him when asked about his favorable and unfavorable rating. Walker received a small unfavorable rating, of 21 percent, but 54 percent of respondents said they did not know enough about the Wisconsin governor to form an opinion.

Despite the unfavorable rating, Clinton was still the preferred presidential candidate among the Democratic field. She received 60 percent of the support between Democrat and Democratic-leaning survey respondents, which is an increase from March's 54 percent. Vice President Joe Biden ranked second with 10 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was previously in second place with 14 percent on the March poll, but no numbers were provided in April's polling data.

Among millennials, an age group of people 18-through-34-years old, the group favored Clinton with 49 percent to 39 percent for Rubio. Clinton's support increased when millennials are asked to pick between Bush and the former secretary of state. Clinton received 53 percent to Bush's 33 percent.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted between April 16 and April 21 with 1,353 registered voters nationwide, including 567 Republicans and 569 Democrats.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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