Donald Trump is ahead of Marco Rubio in the senator's home state of Florida by a double-digit margin, according to a new
Quinnipiac University poll that shows him leading among all age groups and even among those identifying with the Tea Party.
Overall numbers were:
- Trump, 44 percent;
- Rubio, 28 percent;
- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 12 percent;
- Ohio Gov. John Kasich, 7 percent;
- Ben Carson, 4 percent.
"Florida is the single biggest prize of the primary season because it is the largest state to allocate its delegates on a winner-take-all basis. If Sen. Rubio can't win in his own home state, it is difficult to see how he can win elsewhere," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
Both men and women favored Trump over Rubio, with men backing Trump by 49-25 percent over Rubio and women picking Trump by 39-31 percent.
But Trump did get a negative score among likely Republican voters, who said they "would definitely not support" Trump for the nomination, compared to 26 percent saying no to Cruz and 17 percent saying no to Rubio.
Five percent of the state's likely GOP voters said they are still undecided and 30 percent said they might change their minds before the March 15 primary rolls around.
"Florida election law makes this contest more uncertain than earlier primaries," said Brown. "Only registered Republicans may vote here, which raises the question of whether the flood of new voters Donald Trump seemed to bring to earlier contests will be able to participate in Florida."
Trump also leads Rubio 51-28 percent among voters who list the economy and jobs as the most important issue, 44-34 percent among those who cite terrorism and 66-12 percent among those who say immigration is most important.
The poll was conducted of 705 likely GOP voters from Feb. 21-24, and carried a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
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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