While former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign kickoff has made a lot of headlines this week, the results of a new Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll show that it is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that does best against Hillary Clinton in the Sunshine State.
The poll showed that Clinton has a slim 47 percent to 44 percent lead over Rubio among Florida voters, with Clinton's three-point lead within the poll's margin of error.
Clinton, the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination, has a slightly wider 46 percent to 42 percent lead over Bush.
Florida is seen as perhaps the ultimate battleground state and has voted for the winning presidential candidate in all but one of the past thirteen elections.
The poll showed that Clinton has double-digit leads over several of the other Republican candidates that don't call Florida home.
The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll also looked at Ohio and Pennsylvania and found that Rubio also performs well against Clinton in both potentially critical states.
Clinton has a 45 percent to 42 lead over Rubio in Ohio, although the three-point gap suggests another tight race.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich performs best against Clinton in the Buckeye State, leading the former Secretary of State 47 percent to 40 percent.
Meanwhile, the poll showed Rubio leads Clinton 44 percent to 43 percent in Pennsylvania, where Clinton also faces tight races against Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ken., and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
"It's a long way until Election Day, but in the critical swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has a tiny edge over the GOP field, "said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.
"Most of the eight GOP hopefuls are within striking distance of Secretary Hillary Clinton in at least one of the three states," he added. "But perhaps more troubling for her than the continuing slide is how she is perceived by voters who continue to say she is not honest and trustworthy."
The poll showed that voters in each of the three states say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy by margins of 8 to 14 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac survey of 1,147 Florida voters, 1,191 Ohio voters, and 970 Pennsylvania voters was conducted June 4th through 15th.
The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points among Florida voters, plus or minus 2.8 percentage points among Ohio voters and plus or minus 3.2 percentage points among Pennsylvania voters.
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