Republican 2016 Presidential Polls: Donald Trump, Ben Carson Beating Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush in Florida
Donald Trump and Ben Carson are giving Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush a run for their money in their home state of Florida in the 2016 Republican presidential race.
A Times-Union poll released Thursday shows the Washington outsiders received almost the same amount of support among Floridians, with Trump obtaining 23 percent of support and Carson with 22 percent.
Meanwhile, Rubio, a current U.S. senator representing the Sunshine State, has support from 18 percent of registered voters who will likely take part in Florida's Republican primary. On the other hand, Bush, a former two-term governor in the state, has only 11 percent.
Of the nearly 75 percent of people who watched the last Republican debate, one-third said Rubio came out as the winner, while 17 percent declared Trump as the debate champ and 10 percent backed Carson as the victor. However, only 5 percent believed Bush was the best at the debate.
"This poll is tough news for Jeb Bush, given the fact that respondents judged him one of the bigger losers in the debate and his fellow Floridian Rubio has basically double his support at the moment," said longtime political analyst Matt Towery. "It appears that neither Trump nor Carson are being impacted by the debates, but Rubio and Cruz are benefiting."
Other Floridians who attended the Republican Party's Sunshine Summit in Orlando on Friday also expressed doubt that either Bush or Rubio would win their home state.
"Just because Rubio and Bush are from Florida, they don't have it nailed down," said Bret McElhinney, 56, of Oviedo, at the summit, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Peter Feaman of Palm Beach County reasoned Trump and Carson are currently on top in Florida because voters are sick of politics as usual and turned off by career politicians.
"There is so much anger and frustration by the folks with the leadership in Washington that status quo just won't do it," he said.
Likewise, Rick Fender, 62, of Orlando, said he has a distaste for Rubio or Bush because they are "establishment."
"They are part of the problem," he said. "The Democrats and Republicans have been doing it together and we're not headed in the right direction. Taxes are going up. There's more regulations, less freedom."
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