Poll: Rubio Beats Clinton in Three Swing States — Including Pennsylvania

Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) leads Hillary Clinton in three battleground states, including the delegate-rich Pennsylvania, according to new polling of the hypothetical presidential matchup.

Quinnipiac conducted the survey over eleven days following the first Republican presidential debate, as Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for conducting her government business exclusively from a private e-mail account and server during her time as secretary of state..

“Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers are like a leaky faucet: drip . . . drip . . . drip,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Perhaps most telling is how poorly she scores when all voters in these three key states are asked about her empathy, honesty and temperament. In Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania she averages a negative 37 – 55 percent favorability.”

Rubio leads Clinton in all three states: 47-40 in Pennsylvania, 42-40 in Ohio, and 51-39 in Florida. If Mitt Romney had carried those states in 2012, he would have won the White House with 273 electoral votes.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush also polls well against Clinton, leading her 49-38 in his his home state and 43-40 in Pennsylvania, though he trails her 41-39 in Ohio. Trump leads Clinton 43-41 in Florida, but trails in the other two states, according to Quinnipiac.

#related#Clinton’s polling struggles are good news for the top Republican presidential contenders, but they may be even better news for a potential challenger from her own party.

“Vice President Joseph Biden, who is spending his time in seclusion, contemplating whether to take on Secretary Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries for president, has some new information to consider,” Brown said. “Although she is the Democratic front runner, Hillary Clinton’s overall numbers are not much better than Trump’s. Who gets the love? The one guy who hasn’t declared. Vice President Joseph Biden, a Scranton boy made good, is perhaps becoming a more important player in the 2016 presidential race, with a solid grip on the ‘from the gut’ support of Pennsylvanians.”

— Joel Gehrke is a political reporter for National Review.