Trump Tops With Florida Voters, Poll Finds

If Florida’s primary were held today, controversial candidate Donald Trump would likely walk away with the state’s Republican nomination. He’d also win a head-to-head match against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

That’s according to a poll released Thursday by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative. The survey was conducted within the Sunshine State between Jan. 15-18, following the latest round of Democratic and Republican debates. Pollsters interviewed 383 likely Democratic voters and 386 voters from the Republican side to arrive at their findings related to the primaries. For its general election sample, 1,008 registered voters were surveyed.

“At this point, Donald Trump is simply crushing the opposition in the Florida Republican primary,” Kevin Wagner, Ph.D., associate professor of political science at FAU and a research fellow of the Initiative, said in a media release announcing the results. “Not only has he increased his lead, Mr. Trump’s favorability ratings among Republicans are now ahead of his competitors by a substantial margin.”

GOP voters put Trump at the top of Florida’s Republican field with 47.6 percent throwing support into his camp, the survey found. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz came in second place at 16.3 percent with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio taking third with 11.1 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had support from 9.5 percent of those polled.

Hillary Clinton continues to lead in Florida Democrats’ eyes, the survey found. Clinton was favored 62.2 percent over Bernie Sanders’ 25.9 percent.

As for the general election, Clinton, the poll found, trails Trump 47 to 44.3 percent. Bush also leads Clinton in a matchup 45 to 41.5 percent.

When it comes to favorability ratings among Florida voters, the poll found none of the candidates are overwhelmingly embraced. Clinton and Trump had the highest favorability ratings at 42 percent. Only 31 percent of Florida voters polled gave Cruz a favorable rating.

To read more about the poll, visit Florida Atlantic University online.

Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary is set for March 15, 2016.

Photo courtesy of the Donald J. Trump Facebook page