Poll: Rubio passes Jeb for second place in Florida

by Mark Hensch - 09/23/15 4:26 PM ET

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has passed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for second place in their home state’s GOP presidential primary, according to a Florida Atlantic University poll.

Rubio got 19.2 percent support in the Sunshine State, ahead of Bush’s 11.3 percent. Businessman Donald Trump leads the poll with 31.5 percent.

{mosads}”Marco Rubio being that far ahead of Jeb Bush is surprising,” Kevin Wagner, an associate professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University, told The Sun Sentinel. “Some of the early Florida polling suggested that Bush was in a stronger position.”

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson checks in fourth in FAU’s sampling, with 10.3 percent support, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina follows at 8.3 percent.

The poll, taken after last week’s Republican presidential debate in Simi Valley, Calif., surveyed 352 likely Republican primary voters in Florida from Sept. 17-20 with a 5.2 percent margin of error.

Bush is trying to hold off Rubio for third place in national polls, behind Trump and Carson.

The former governor takes 7.8 percent support in a RealClearPolitics average of national surveys, ahead of Rubio’s 7.3 percent.

Trump leads the RealClearPolitics average with 28.5 percent, and Carson sits in second with 18.8 percent.

Tags Donald Trump Jeb Bush Marco Rubio