A Rasmussen poll released Monday shows that Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s favorability among Republican voters has declined by 15 points since February.
The poll reveals that Rubio, a vocal advocate for the Senate immigration bill, is viewed favorably by 58 percent of Republican voters, which Rasmussen notes is down 10 points since May and 15 points since February.
To be sure, the poll found that just 16 percent of Republican voters had an unfavorable opinion of Rubio, while 25 percent were undecided.
The Washington Examiner further reports that the intensity of Republican voters’ opinion of the Florida senator has also declined, with 21 percent of Republicans boasting a very favorable opinion of him in the current Rasmussen poll, compared to 44 percent in February.
Among Democrats, Rubio’s support has decreased as well. In February, 20 percent of Democratic voters said they had a favorable view of him, but in the most recent poll 16 percent viewed Rubio favorably.
Rubio’s favorability among independents, on the other hand, grew from 37 percent in February to 41 percent currently.
Rasmussen notes that the rating change is likely linked to his high-profile push for the Senate immigration bill, which some voters believe will not be enforced.
“Most voters favor the concept of comprehensive immigration reform but do not believe that the government is likely to try and enforce the border security provisions of any new law,” The Examiner quotes Rasmussen. “Many have viewed Rubio’s role in selling the reform plan as convincing conservative voters that the border security provisions are acceptable.”
The HotAir blog reports that overall, 37 percent of voters view Rubio favorably, a decrease of five points from February. Further, 35 percent had an unfavorable view of the senator in the most recent poll and 27 percent were undecided.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on June 20 and 21 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
