U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, is the top choice among Republican voters nationwide for the Republican vice presidential nomination, according to a new poll.
The Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind poll of Republican voters nationwide released Monday shows Mr. Rubio beating out New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the top choice.
“The question was open-ended,” said Peter Woolley, a political scientist at FDU and director of the poll, “So people came up with his name without any prompt.”
The poll was not conducted based on traditional polling methodology, as it simply asked voters to mention their top pick for a vice presidential candidate.
Mr. Rubio topped the list with 66 mentions, followed by Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum with 56 mentions, Mr. Christie with 47 mentions and Ms. Palin with 35 mentions.
The poll allowed respondents to choose any Republican politician of their choice, thus allowing current presidential candidates as choices. Mr. Santorum was the top choice for vice president out of the remaining Republican presidential candidates, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 32 mentions, Texas congressman Ron Paul at 30 mentions and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 16 mentions.
Mr. Romney finished the poll tied with former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, which is likely a signal that voters still feel that he will win the presidential nomination and thus would not be an eligible selection for the vice presidential nomination.
Mr. Rubio was also the top selection among Republican voters for the vice presidential slot in last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll. He is popular among Tea Party Republicans and would likely do well in attracting Latino voters in Florida and across the nation if he were to run as the vice presidential nominee.
“Anytime you place ahead of Sarah Palin, call yourself a winner. Her name recognition and presence are formidable,” said Mr. Woolley.
The Florida senator has not endorsed any of the remaining candidates, and has consistently stated that he has not interest in running for vice president in 2012.
In contrast Ms. Palin stated last week on Fox News that she has not ruled out running for public office in the future, and that she would “answer the call” if selected as a vice presidential running mate in 2012.
The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll was conducted between February 6th and February 12th among 799 registered Republican and Independent voters nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
