Walloping Rubio

Poll: Trump walloping Rubio in Florida

By Eliza Collins

Marco Rubio is banking on Florida to prove his campaign can make a comeback, but a new Quinnipiac poll has him far behind Donald Trump in the state.

Trump has 45 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Florida, while the Florida senator has 22 percent. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has recently been making a play in Florida – some say in an effort to take out Rubio – is not far behind with 18 percent. And Ohio governor John Kasich has just 8 percent.

The margin has widened since February, when Rubio had 28 percent to Trump’s 44 percent.

Trump also leads Kasich in his home state, though the margin is much smaller: 6 percentage points.

The billionaire has 38 percent while Kasich has 32 percent. Cruz has 16 percent and Rubio has 9 percent.

Both Trump and Kasich have improved their scores since February, though their margin remains similar. Trump had 31 percent compared to Kasich’s 26 percent.

In Florida just 25 percent of those surveyed are open to another candidate (6 percent are undecided entirely and 19 percent are willing to change their minds.) The number of those surveyed who remain flexible in Ohio is slightly larger, but still not a majority. Five percent of those surveyed are undecided and 27 percent could change their mind.

Both Florida and Ohio are delegate-rich winner-take-all states that the senator and governor must-win in order to justify staying in the race.

The telephone survey took place from March 2-7. There were 657 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points and 685 likely Ohio Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.