Although there is still plenty of time before the first primary vote, Latinos appear to have formed opinions for at least two Republican presidential candidates, namely Donald Trump and Jeb Bush.

Of the 17 Republican presidential candidates, Trump and former Florida Gov. Bush were the most familiar candidates, with 79 percent and 57 percent, respectively, based on Latinos surveyed by Gallup. Bush, however, had the better favorable rating with 34 percent, double-digits ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, who received 24 percent.

Trump's favorable rating was 14 percent, which was enough for fifth place, behind New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump, however, tied with former New York Gov. George Pataki, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Trump received the most negative opinion of all candidates. Eight in 10 Latinos, or 79 percent, have formed an opinion on the real estate businessman, and 65 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Trump has previously criticized Mexico, immigrants and called for the end of birthright citizenship and mass deportation of the 11.3 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. Trump's negative rating has averaged between 51 percent and 50 percent.

"Trump has a highly unfavorable image among U.S. Hispanics, but at least for now, this doesn't seem to be tarnishing the rest of the Republican field," wrote Gallup's Lydia Saad, recognizing that Latinos constitutes a small fraction of the Republican Party.

"This could reflect Hispanics' support for Bush's more moderate tone on immigration -- at least before he referred to the children of illegal immigrants as 'anchor babies.' These figures will serve as a valuable baseline to see whether the ongoing criticism of Bush for using the term 'anchor babies' hurts him in the Hispanic community."

On the Democratic presidential field, Hillary Clinton is the only name that has resonated with Latinos. Clinton is a familiar figure with the Latino survey respondents as 58 percent viewed the former secretary of state favorably and 18 percent unfavorable.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ranked second as only 25 percent of Latinos said they recognized him, but 15 percent viewed him favorable. Fellow Democratic presidential candidates Jim Webb, Lincoln Chafee and Martin O'Malley each received 14 percent of recognition among Latinos, but their favorable rating were in the single digits.

"Bush's recent jockeying with Trump could help warm Hispanic voters to him in the general election should he capture the nomination," Saad wrote. "For now, Clinton has a modest advantage over Bush in favorability among Hispanics, but she is also much better known than her Democratic competitors."

The Gallup poll was conducted between July 8 and Aug. 23, with 2,183 Latino adults over the age of 18 participating.

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

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