Marco Rubio - U.S. Senate - 2010

Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach County GOP Senate Straw Poll: Rubio 90, Crist 17
By George Bennett
10/14/09

In what has become a familiar ritual at gatherings of Republican activists across Florida, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio trounced Gov. Charlie Crist in a straw poll of GOP Senate candidates tonight.

The vote of Palm Beach County Republican Executive Committee members was 90-17 for Rubio, who trails the more moderate Crist in fund-raising and polls of likely GOP primary voters but is a hero with the party’s conservative activist base.

Former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith, now a Florida resident and GOP candidate, got 11 votes in the poll. Physician and former congressional candidate Marion Thorpe got 4 votes.

The Palm Beach County result makes Rubio 9-0 in straw polls of county Republican Executive Committee members around Florida. Conservatives dominate the GOP committees across the state, just as liberals dominate Democratic executive committees.

The most recent public polls of likely GOP Senate primary voters were taken in mid-August. A Rasmussen poll showed Crist with a 53-31 lead and a Quinnipiac poll gave Crist a 55-26 advantage.

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