Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio may hail from the same county, but Bush has already become the favorite, even among those who are Cuban-American, a new poll has found.
According to a
poll conducted for The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald of 250 registered Republicans, Bush leads among Cuban-Americans with 43 percent support compared to 31 percent for Rubio.
Overall, Bush has a 10-point lead of 35 percent to 25 percent among the Miami-Dade GOP, where 73 percent of the party's registered voters are Hispanic.
"Jeb is an honorary Cuban but Marco Rubio would be the first actual Cuban-American president. So how is the Cuban community not supporting him en masse?" pollster Fernand Amandi asked
Politico.
"Marco Rubio hasn't made a persuasive case to his own community that he can win. And if he can't make that case here, he can't win Florida if the trend holds."
Amandi described Bush's lead as "shocking" and a "real serious problem" for Rubio.
The poll also put Texas Sen. Ted Cruz a distant third at 7 percent.
"Dade Republicans and Cuban Americans have known Jeb for a very long time. He has been embraced by our community and genuinely cares about issues that are important to us," Diana Arteaga, a 30-year-old voter and member of the county's Young Republicans club, told Politico. "He has been our advocate both in and out of office. Jeb is familia."
Former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla said he believes some voters are supporting Bush over Rubio because some may think "Marco is too young and will have another chance."
But, he added, "I don't think people should vote for someone because it's their last chance, and they feel sorry for him. They should vote based on who would make the best nominee and have the best shot at beating Clinton, and Marco is clearly that choice. He brings us the future and not the past."
Campaign finance reports released to the FEC last week indicate that while Bush has substantially outpaced all other GOP contenders, in Miami-Dade, Rubio has nearly matched Bush: Bush raised $557,000 compared to $512,000 for Rubio, The Miami Herald said.
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