Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are vying for popularity in two critical general election swing states — Florida and Pennsylvania — according to a new poll.
Though both men have served in statewide office in the Sunshine State, Bush had the slight edge in Florida, garnering 20% support compared to Rubio’s 18%, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday.
In Pennsylvania, it was Rubio with 12% support versus Bush with 10%.
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich held the advantage in the Buckeye State — a third critical general election swing state — with 19% support, followed by Bush at 9% and Wisconsin Gov. Walker at 8%.
“Two favorite sons, former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, are ahead in Florida and have some legs in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Gov. John Kasich is Ohio’s hometown favorite, but he’s invisible in the other two states,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll. “The GOP presidential race is clear as mud.”
The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed a total of 1,305 Republican voters in all three primary states — 458 voters in Florida, 434 voters in Ohio and 413 voters in Pennsylvania — between June 4-15. The margin of error for poll in Florida is plus or minus 4.6 percentage points, plus or minus 4.7 percentage points in Ohio and plus or minus 4.9 percentage points in Pennsylvania.