Quinnipiac poll says Marco Rubio would fare best in general election

Marco Rubio is the most likely Republican to win the general election, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

The survey found Rubio does the best in a hypothetical general election match-up. The survey found Rubio would best Democrat Hillary Clinton, 48 percent to 41 percent. In a hypothetical match-up between Rubio and Bernie Sanders, support was evenly split with each man getting 43 percent.

Among registered Republicans nationwide, Donald Trump is still the top pick. Trump leads the Republican field with 31 percent, followed by Ted Cruz at 22 percent and Rubio at 19 percent.

That lead isn’t set in stone, though. More than half of the Republicans, 52 percent, said they might change their mind before they vote in their primary.

Trump may be the top choice for Republicans, but he is one of the most disliked candidates. Fifty-nine percent of respondents — both Republican and Democrats — said they had an unfavorable opinion of the New York businessman.

Trump does better with Republicans, 60 percent said they had a favorable opinion of him; while 83 percent of Democrats had an unfavorable view.

As for Rubio, 42 percent of respondents had a favorable view of him, while 29 percent of people — both Republicans and Democrats — said they hadn’t heard enough about him to form an opinion. Among Republicans, 69 percent of respondents said they had favorable view, while 48 percent of Democrats had an unfavorable opinion of him.

On the Democratic side, Clinton leads Sanders 44 percent to 42 percent.

The Qunnipiac University poll was conducted from Monday through Thursday. The survey has a margin of error of 2.9 percent.