Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has emerged as a clear choice among Republicans for their preferred presidential candidate in 2016, a new poll said.
Mr. Bush, who recently announced he’s actively exploring a bid for the White House, is the choice of 23 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, according to the CNN/ORC poll. He was followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 13 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 7 percent, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 6 percent apiece.
A month ago, without 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the mix, Mr. Bush led with 14 percent of the vote, followed by Mr. Carson at 11 percent, Mr. Huckabee at 10 percent, Mr. Christie and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin at 9 percent, and Mr. Paul at 8 percent.
Mr. Romney has said he’s not planning on running for the White House a third time.
Electability appears to be a factor for Republicans, many of whom likely differ with Mr. Bush on his stances on immigration and K-12 Common Core education standards.
Nearly 7-in-10 Republicans said they would choose a presidential candidate who can beat the Democratic candidate but does not agree with them on every issue that matters to them, versus about 3-in-10 who would rather see the GOP nominate a candidate who agrees with them on every issue but might not be able to beat the Democratic candidate.
And Republican voters aren’t necessarily monolithic on how Mr. Bush’s positions on those particular issues would affect their vote. Thirty-two percent say Mr. Bush’s support for plans that would allow some illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. rather than being deported would make them more likely to support him, 35 percent say it would make them less likely to support him, and 32 percent say it would make no difference.
Twenty percent say his support for Common Core would make them more likely to support him, 38 percent say less likely, and 39 percent say it would make no difference in their opinion of him.
The survey of 1,011 adults taken Dec. 18-21 includes 453 Republicans, and the smaller sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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