Mitch Perry
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker continues to have a national lead of Republican presidential candidates in a new Public Policy Polling survey, but Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee have the most momentum in the new poll.
Walker continues to lead the field nationally with 18 percent support, followed by Rubio at 13 percent, Huckabee and Ben Carson at 12 percent, Jeb Bush at 11 percent, Ted Cruz at 10 percent, 5 percent for Chris Christie, and 2 percent for Rick Perry.
In the six weeks since PPP last did a national poll, two candidates have gained clear momentum: Rubio and Huckabee, who both have announced their candidacies since.
In addition to being in second place overall, Rubio is the most frequently named second choice of GOP voters at 15 percent. The 28 percent of Republicans who identify him as either their first or second choice matches Walker for the lead. And Rubio’s 13 percent represents a 7 point gain from his 6 percent standing in late March.
Huckabee has gained 6 points since the last national poll PPP, and his 58 percent favorability rating is the highest of the GOP field and his net +34 rating at 58/24 is tied with Rubio’s at 56/22 to make him the most popular candidate.
Meanwhile, Bush continues to retreat. He previously held 17 percent support with the PPP poll, now he’s at 11 percent and in fifth place. He continues to struggle with voters identifying themselves as “very conservative.” His favorability with them is under water at 35/44.
On the Democratic side Hillary Clinton leads with 63 percent to 13 percent for Bernie Sanders, 6 percent for Jim Webb, 5 percent for Lincoln Chafee, and 2 percent for Martin O’Malley.
Public Policy Polling interviewed 685 Republican primary voters and 600 Democratic primary voters nationally from May 7 to 10. The margins of error for the surveys are +/-3.7 percent and +/- 4.0 percent respectively.
