(AP/LM Otero) Donald Trump.
Polls continue to shower good news on real-estate mogul Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.A Tuesday StPetePolls.org survey even found Trump leading two of his GOP rivals — in their home state of Florida.
The poll found Trump with 26% of the vote among Republican primary voters in the state, compared to 20% for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and roughly 10% for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida). Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), with 12%, also led Rubio.
Both SaintPetersBlog and the Drudge Report labeled it a “SHOCK POLL.”
Trump reportedly reacted to the poll by telling Breitbart News, “I have always loved Florida, what a great honor.”
The Florida-based pollster’s track record has been criticized — and, of course, it is still very early in the race — but the poll is only the latest in a long line of recent surveys that have shown Trump ahead of the GOP pack.
A Monmouth University poll, also out Tuesday, found that the Republican businessman had opened up a two-to-one lead over Bush — his nearest primary rival — in New Hampshire.
A NBC News/Marist poll released Sunday gave Trump 21% of the GOP vote compared to 14% for Bush in the Granite State. And another Sunday poll, a national survey from CNN, also found Trump in the No. 1 position in the primary.
The good news comes despite a string of recent controversies that have placed negative media light on Trump’s high-profile campaign. Among other things, Trump briefly dismissed Sen. John McCain’s (R-Arizona) “war hero” status before backtracking and saying the opposite. McCain was captured, tortured, and held as a prisoner of war for five years during the Vietnam War.
“The controversy over comments about John McCain’s war service do not appear to have slowed the Trump steamroller,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University poll.