Polls: Trump leads Kasich in Ohio, Rubio in Florida

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/09/16 7:31 AM ET

Donald Trump leads Republican presidential rivals Marco Rubio and John Kasich in their home states of Florida and Ohio, according to polling released Wednesday.

Trump tops Rubio by 16 points in Florida, leading 40 to 24 percent, while Ted Cruz follows at 19 percent and Kasich at 5 percent in the latest CNN/ORC polls.

{mosads}In Ohio, the controversial businessman bests Kasich by a smaller margin of 6 points, 41 to 35 percent, with Cruz at 15 percent and Rubio at 7 percent.

Florida and Ohio are key for Republican rivals who are hoping to keep Trump below the necessary 1,237 delegates for the nomination, forcing a brokered convention over the summer.

The winner-take-all contests on March 15 in Florida and Ohio have 99 and 66 delegates up for grabs, respectively. Voters in Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri will also cast ballots next week.

Rubio’s campaign has insisted that it is putting its focus on winning Florida. The senator failed to win any delegates in the four states that held voting on Tuesday, placing fourth behind Kasich in Michigan and Mississippi.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton holds big leads over rival Bernie Sanders in Ohio and Florida based on the latest polling. She leads 63 to 33 perccent in Ohio and 61 to 34 percent in Florida, according to CNN.

Sanders had a surprise showing Tuesday in Michigan to win that state’s primary, while Clinton expanded her delegate number by picking up support in that state and dominating in Mississippi.

The CNN/ORC surveys of 313 likely GOP primary voters and 264 likely Democratic primary voters were conducted March 2–6. In Florida, the margin of error is 5.5 points for Republicans and 6 points for Democrats, while in Ohio it is 5 points for Republicans and 5.5 points for Democrats.