Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is viewed most positively among Republican voters heading into the first GOP presidential debate.
Rubio receives a 52 percent favorability rating from potential 2016 Republican voters compared to a 14 percent unfavorability rating, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday morning. This net favorability rating of 38 percentage points puts him first among his competitors.
Furthermore, 66 percent of Rubio’s party’s voters recognize him, this paired with his favorability rating gives him a good edge heading into Fox News’s prime-time debate Thursday night. Rubio joins nine other GOP presidential hopefuls at 9 p.m. EST for the first debate of the 2016 election cycle.
Following Rubio is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who garners a 38 percent net favorable rating (45 percent favorable vs. 7 percent unfavorable), former neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 35 percent net favorable (42 percent favorable vs. 7 percent unfavorable) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 33 percent net favorable (52 percent favorable vs. 20 percent unfavorable). All three will join Rubio Thursday night on the debate stage with relatively high familiarity ratings: 52 percent, 49 percent and 73 percent, respectively.
Rounding out the top five based on net favorable rating is former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, with 32 percent (51 percent favorable vs. 19 percent unfavorable). Despite being recognized by 70 percent of the GOP, Perry will not be part of the main debate stage Thursday night. Instead, he will join seven candidates who did not make the cut at 5 p.m. EST for a separate debate.
The Gallup survey of roughly 1,000 Republican and Republican-leaning independents was conducted July 22-Aug. 4 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
