Poll: Trump leads Rubio in Florida, Trump and Kasich are tied in Ohio
Donald Trump holds a wide lead over Marco Rubio in Florida, but the GOP frontrunner is tied with John Kasich in Ohio, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released Monday.
The poll, which comes on the eve of several winner-take-all primaries on Tuesday, found Trump is leading Rubio in his home state by 24 percentage points. Forty-six percent of the state's Republican voters said they'd back the billionaire businessman and 22 percent said they'd support their senator. Fourteen percent said they would support Ted Cruz while 10 percent said they would back Kasich.
Trump leads Rubio among both men and women in Florida and also leads among those who identified themselves as members of the Tea Party and those who called themselves "moderate or liberal."
In Ohio, meanwhile, Trump is tied with Kasich where 38 percent of the state's GOP primary voters back both the the billionaire and their governor. Sixteen percent said they support Cruz and 3 percent back Rubio.
Trump leads in Ohio among men but a plurality of the state's women support Kasich more than Trump. The poll also found Trump leads among Tea Party members but he and Kasich split white, born-again evangelicals.
As for the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders by 26 percentage points among Florida's Democratic primary voters. Sixty percent said they support the former secretary of state while 34 percent said they back the Vermont senator.
Among the state's Democratic voters, a majority of women back Clinton while a majority of men support Sanders, who also leads among those who identified themselves as very liberal. Clinton, on the other hand, has the support of all other Democrats by wide margins.
Just over half of Ohio's Democratic primary voters said they also support Clinton while 46 percent said they support Sanders.
A majority of women in Ohio back Clinton but a majority of men support Sanders, who also leads among those who described themselves as "very liberal."
These results are similar to a CBS News battleground poll released Sunday, which also found Trump and Kasich are tied in Ohio and Trump leads Rubio in Florida.
Ohio and Florida distribute delegates on a winner-take-all system while Illinois is winner-take-most and Missouri and North Carolina distribute them proportionally on Tuesday.
A Monmouth University survey also released on Monday found Trump now has 17-percentage-point lead over Rubio in Florida after having an 8-percentage-point lead last week. Forty-four percent of GOP primary voters in the state said they support Trump while 27 percent back their sitting senator. People were asked on Saturday and Sunday whether the violence outside of Trump's canceled Chicago rally on Friday affected their decisions. Two-thirds said it had no impact and nearly a quarter said it made them more likely to support Trump.
Another Monmouth poll released Monday found 40 percent of Ohio Republican voters support Kasich, while Trump trails 5 percentage points behind.
The poll, which was conducted between March 8 and 13, surveyed 615 Republican voters in Florida with a 4 percentage point margin of error, 519 Florida Democrats with a 4.3 percentage point margin of error, 721 Ohio Republicans with a 3.7 percentage point margin of error and 543 Ohio Democrats with a 4.2 percentage point margin of error.
