Support for Sen. Marco Rubio among Republican voters in New Hampshire has dropped 18 points since April, according to the latest Granite State poll. Today, just 6% of GOP voters in the critical primary state would support him if he ran for President in 2016. He is now the 5th choice of voters in the state.
Rubio’s net favorable ratings, the gap between favorable and unfavorable views, also collapsed in New Hampshire. In April, Rubio enjoyed a +51 favorable rating. Today, the number is down to +33, a significant drop for a popular Republican among base voters. The Senate Gang of 8 amnesty bill was released after the April poll.
Interestingly, NJ Gov. Chris Christie has also seen a drop in his favorables among Republicans, although he still leads the overall field.
“Rubio and Christie have seen their net favorability ratings drop significantly – Rubio’s has dropped 18 percentage points since April and Christie’s has dropped 14 percentage points since February,” said the poll’s director Andrew Smith. “These drops are indications that Rubio and Christie have alienated significant segments of the Republican base.”
Alienating the Republican base isn’t a winning strategy to secure the party’s nomination.
Christie of New Jersey is in first with 21 percent, followed by Sen. Rand Paul, with 16 percent. Former Gov. Jeb Bush is in third with ten percent, followed by Rep. Paul Ryan with eight percent, and Rubio with six ercent. Rick Santorum is tied with two Texans — Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Ted Cruz — in sixth with four percent each. Gov. Scott Walker takes two percent. Gov. Bobby Jindal and two Ohio Republicans — Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman — all take less than one percent.