Marco Rubio apparently won't be enjoying a home field advantage in Florida's senate race. The Miami born Republican who got his start in local politics isn't too popular in Southeast Florida, and it's the only region in the state where he polls behind both Kendrick Meek and Charlie Crist.
Mason-Dixon polling released new poll numbers in the Senate race today. Crist leads with 38 percent of likely voters overall, Rubio places second with 32 percent and Meek comes in a distant third with 17 percent. A Rasmussen poll earlier this week showed similar numbers: Crist with 38, Rubio with 34 and Meek with 17.
Mason-Dixon also released regional poll numbers, and Crist is winning in Southeast Florida with 37 percent. Meek, also a Miami local who's congressional district also represents part of Broward county, comes in second with 31 percent and Rubio comes in with only 23 percent. That's nine points lower for Rubio than Tampa Bay, his second worst showing with 32 percent of the vote.
True Southeast Florida, the biggest of the region Mason-Dixon has divided Florida into representing 30 percent of those surveyed, is traditionally more Democratic than most areas of the state. However, considering that both Meek and Rubio are from here, it's the region that probably knows all three candidates the best (indeed, it's the region with lowest number of undecided voters at only 9 percent).
The fact that Meek pull ahead of Rubio in a place where they're both well known and from should be encouraging. It's believed he'll see his poll numbers rise as his campaign works to improve his name recognition in other parts of the state. Though both parties should be worried that Crist beats them both quite handily in their candidate's home turf.
