Scott Powers
A new survey released by Suffolk University finds that Florida Republicans prefer Donald Trump to Marco Rubio by 9 points even though most think the New York businessman is the least conservative in the GOP candidates.
The survey, of 500 likely Republican primary voters in Florida, gives Trump 36 percent, U.S. Sen. Rubio of Florida 27 percent, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas 19 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich 10 percent.
That preference comes even though almost none of the GOP voters think Trump is very conservative. Instead, they see him as the most likely candidate to defeat Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton.
Although Rubio appears within striking distance, his support is soft among those not picking him. The same goes for Trump. When asked for their second choices, the 26 percent said Cruz, 21 percent Kasich, 17 percent Rubio, and 10 percent Trump.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush likely wouldn’t fare much better than Rubio. Suffolk University asked the voters whether they would vote for him if he were still in the race. Likely Republican primary voters said no, 66 percent to 29 percent.
This does not appear to be a contest to decide who is most conservative, according to the Suffolk survey. Forty-five percent said Cruz was most conservative, 14 percent went for each of Rubio and Kasich and 10 percent for Trump. When asked who was the least conservative, 54 percent said Trump, 15 percent said Rubio, 8 percent said Kasich, and 3 percent said Cruz.
Rather, the question that made the difference was who could defeat Clinton: 47 percent said Trump, 19 percent said Cruz, 15 percent said Rubio, and 4 percent said Kasich.
The statewide survey of 500 likely Florida GOP presidential primary voters was conducted Monday through Wednesday, using live telephone interviews and a split sample of landline and cell phone numbers. The margin of error is +/-4.4 percentage points at a 95 percent level of confidence.
