A new poll says Sen. Marco Rubio is already winning the race for his current Senate seat, even though he hasn’t said he’s running.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, Rubio, a Republican, leads Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat, by 7 points, 47-40.
Recommended Stories
Against another Democratic opponent, Rep. Alan Grayson, Rubio also leads by a similar margin, 48-40.
“With Republican national leaders worried about keeping control of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Marco Rubio might ride to their rescue if he decides to reverse field and seek re-election,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. Brown said if he decides last minute to seek re-election, Rubio “could be in the driver’s seat.”
The last day for Rubio to file papers for re-election is Friday.
After his failed presidential campaign, Rubio said he intends to return to Florida when his Senate term is up in November and become a private citizen to spend time with his family. However, he confirmed last week that he was reconsidering.
Among demographics in the Sunshine State, the Senate race breaks down similarly to the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
In the Rubio-Murphy matchup, Rubio has a 15-point advantage among men (51-36), while women remain divided between Rubio and Murphy (44-42). White voters are more inclined to support the GOP candidate (56-33) and non-white voters side with the Democratic candidate (53-30).
The results are similar when Rubio and Grayson are matched up.
In terms of job approval rating, Florida voters are split on Rubio, 45-44.
The poll of 975 Florida voters was conducted June 8-19 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
