US Presidential Election 2016 News: Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio Competing for G.O.P. Presidential Nomination?
The Republican primary race for the 2016 U.S. presidential election is heating up between two prominent politicians from Florida.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who served as Florida House Speaker, are both positioning themselves as possible presidential candidates.
The political action committee Right to Rise is backing Bush while Rubio has the support of Reclaim America PAC.
Powerbrokers and donors will have to pick between the two. At the moment, Bush has the edge, according to Fox News Latino.
"Gov. Bush is asking all his friends and supporters, including myself, to support his efforts. I am working on a number of events for him throughout Florida. Everyone I know is getting on board," said George LeMieux, former interim U.S. senator, who is helping in organizing fundraising events for Right to Rise.
About Rubio, LeMieux said: "The money Sen. Rubio is raising right now is for his Senate run, as far as I know."
Florida residents strongly prefer that Rubio run for reelection in the Senate than gun for the presidency.
In a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, only 15 percent said they want Rubio to run for president as opposed to 57 percent who want him to run for Senate reelection, according to The Hill.
For Bush, 42 percent said he should run while 43 percent said he should not.
In a New Hampshire poll conducted by Bloomberg Politics-Saint Anselm College, respondents were asked to name a candidate that they would vote for if the 2016 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary was held now.
Bush was voted No. 1 by 16 percent of the respondents followed by Rand Paul with 13 percent and Scott Walker with 12 percent. Rubio got 5 percent. For the second choice, Bush got 14 percent while Rubio got 7 percent.
On the question on whether Bush's political strength is based on his unique qualities and achievements or his family connection to politics, 59 percent of Republican primary voters said it's because of his family connections to politics while 31 percent said it's because of his unique qualities and achievements.
Last December, Rubio declared that his joining the presidential field will not be based on whether Bush will run or not. "If I join the field, if Gov. Bush joins the field and others join the field, you could have as many as eight to 10 very credible candidates running," Rubio told NPR. "And there's nothing personal. I wouldn't be running because I'm against anybody else in the field. I would be running because I believe I have something unique to contribute at this time," Rubio said.