Two major polls released Wednesday morning put Donald Trump ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in their home states, which will hold winner-take-all primaries on March 15.
In a
Quinnipiac University poll taken from March 2-7:
Florida:
- Trump 45 percent;
- Rubio, 22 percent;
- Cruz, 18 percent;
- Kasich, 8 percent.
In Ohio:
- Trump, 38 percent;
- Kasich, 32 percent;
- Cruz, 16 percent;
- Rubio, 9 percent.
In a
CNN/ORC poll taken between March 2-6:
Florida:
- Trump 40 percent;
- Rubio, 24 percent;
- Cruz, 19 percent;
- Kasich, 5 percent.
Ohio:
- Trump, 41 percent;
- Kasich, 35 percent;
- Cruz, 15 percent;
- Rubio, 7 percent.
"With Florida the largest state awarding delegates on a winner-take-all basis, a Trump win would increase even more his chances of winning the nomination," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll.
"Between the two March 15 battlegrounds, 165 of the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination are available.
"Kasich, who has been the governor for five years, has one of the highest job approval ratings of any governor in the nine states surveyed by Quinnipiac University," Brown continued.
In Florida, where Quinnipiac polled 657 likely GOP voters:
- Trump leads Rubio 39 - 27 percent among women
- Trump leads Rubio 50 - 17 percent among men.
- Tea Party members: Trump, 48 percent; Cruz, 40 percent; Rubio, 9 percent; Kasich, N/A
- White evangelicals: Trump, 39 percent; Cruz, 30 percent; 21 percent, Rubio.
And in Ohio, where 685 likely voters participated:
- Women: Kasich, 36-31 percent;
- Men: Trump, 44 - 29 percent;
- Tea Party: Cruz, 38 percent; Trump, 33 percent; Kasich, 14 percent;
- White evangelicals: Kasich, 35 percent; Trump, 29 percent; Cruz, 24 percent.
The Quinnipiac polls carried a margin of error of 3.8 points in Florida and 3.7 points in Ohio.
Meanwhile, the CNN/ORC poll, Democratic voters put Hillary Clinton ahead of Bernie Sanders in Ohio, by 63 to 33 percent, and in Florida, by 61 to 34 percent.
And in Ohio, most voters are locked in, with 59 percent of Trump supporter saying they won't change their minds, versus 61 percent for Kasich.
The CNN/ORC poll carried margins of error of 5.5 percentage points among Republicans and 6 points with Democrats in Florida, and in Ohio, it was 5 points among Republicans and 5.5 points with Democrats.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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