Mitch Perry
It’s been nearly two months since Quinnipiac University last polled Floridians about the 2016 presidential contest, and the headline out of the new survey released Tuesday morning is how the recent email controversy has negatively affected Hillary Clinton‘s approval rankings.
“The good news for Hillary Clinton is that the e-mail controversy has not done huge violence to her presidential chances. But the matter is taking a toll on the former secretary of state’s public image,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.
Quinnipiac last surveyed Floridians in eight weeks ago, in early February. At that time she was in solid shape in Florida, leading every Republican candidate in the race.
But four weeks ago The New York Times revealed that Clinton used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state, a story that has nagged at her ever since.
Although it’s not substantial, Clinton’s numbers are down in the new poll, and now trails former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for the first time in the poll.
Bush is at 45 percent to Clinton’s 42 percent, compared with Clinton at 44 percent to Bush’s 43 percent in February.
In a one-on-one against Marco Rubio (expected to officially announce his candidacy in 13 days), Clinton is up 46-44 percent. In February, she dominated Rubio, 49-39 percent.
That’s the same situation regarding Rand Paul, who will be announcing his candidacy April 7. Clinton is up 46-43 percent over the Kentucky U.S. senator. In February, she led Paul 50-38 percent.
Clinton leads Chris Christie 44-39 percent, compared with 51-34 percent in February.
Clinton leads Scott Walker 46-40 percent, and Ted Cruz 48-39 percent (those two weren’t included back in February).
The former first lady and Secretary of State’s favorability rating has taken a substantial hit. She now has a 49-46 percent approval rating. On Feb. 3 it was 53-39 percent.
But interestingly, Bush’s approval ratings are down as well in the Sunshine State. He’s now at 47-42 percent, compared with 46-38 percent in February.
The next best Republican in terms of approval rankings is Rubio, who is at 42-38 percent.
Walker is 26-20 percent, but 53 percent of Floridians don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
Mike Huckabee (a Florida resident now) is at 33/32 percent.
Rand Paul is 31-31 percent.
Cruz and Christie are under water in terms of their personal approval ratings in Florida; Christie is negative 30-44 percent; Cruz is 24-31 percent.
A total of 51 percent of Florida voters say Clinton’s e-mail problems are “very important” or “somewhat important’ in their vote for president, and 38 percent say they are less likely to vote for her because of this issue, while 56 percent say it won’t affect their vote.
Only 33 percent of voters say Clinton has provided satisfactory answers on the e-mail issue, while 56 percent say serious questions remain.
Voters also say 54-41 percent that a congressional investigation into Clinton’s e-mails is politically motivated, rather than justified.
“Talk about well-exposed! Secretary Clinton has virtually 100 percent name recognition in the Sunshine state, as 95 percent of Floridians have an opinion about her favorably or unfavorably. That means changing voters’ preferences will be difficult,” Brown said.
