New FOX 5 Poll: Trump still leads Florida, Rubio gaining

ATLANTA - A new poll conducted for FOX 5 and other outlets show Donald Trump maintaining a big lead among Florida Republican voters with Senator Marco Rubio gaining some last-minute support.

The Opinion Savvy poll conducted the evening of Sunday, March 13 shows Trump with 44 percent of the vote, trailed by Rubio with 26 percent.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is in 3rd place with 18%, followed by Ohio Governor John Kasich at 10 percent.

Only 2 percent of the people surveyed are undecided.

FOX 5 Political Analyst and Insider Advantage Matt Towery whose firm conducted the poll said, “It still appears that Donald Trump is headed to victory Tuesday night. But the many polls, including the Opinion Savvy poll, which show Trump in the low-to-mid 40 percent range, might be overstating his margin of victory.

Most observers consider Florida as make-or-break for Rubio, with a loss in his home state as probably the fatal blow for his campaign.

Towery said this latest survey suggests some degree of a late surge by Rubio.

Towery said, “Trump led among early voters in our survey of last week in that survey by over 20 points. But now Trump leads Rubio 38-to-32 percent. It should be noted that early voting had not ended in Florida when the prior Opinion Savvy survey was conducted. Trump continues to lead in every region of the state. The poll suggests that Donald Trump remains likely to win Florida’s primary and all of its delegates, but that Rubio may have a stronger finish than many expect.”

Opinion Savvy conducted the poll for FOX 5, sister stations FOX 13 Tampa and FOX 35 Orlando as well as the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville.

The poll of 787 likely voters has margin of error of 3.5 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.

The poll conducted by phone and handheld devices is weighted for age, race, gender, evangelism and region.