Florida’s Republican Senate primary race between Senator Marco Rubio and homebuilder Carlos Beruff could boil down to which candidate garners the support from all of those Donald Trump supporters that are backing the presumptive presidential nominee’s presidential run.
Trump soundly beat Rubio in Florida’s presidential primary, but now the question is, will those same Republican Trump supporters vote for Rubio in a contested Senate primary race over someone who has openly stated his support “The Donald?”Beruff has been open about his support for Trump, saying that he is “willing to make it a decisive issue” adding that he “had no doubts” about his loyalty to Trump.
Beruff’s remark comes off the heals of Senator Marco Rubio statement that “the prospect of a Trump presidency” is “worrisome” to him.
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Rubio says that he will vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton, and would not speak ill of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, but added that he would not campaign for him throughout the state of Florida.
Rubio’s not-so-kind remarks regarding Trump has many “Trumpsters” giving Beruff a second look, but just how deep is that support?
Even though many outspoken Trump supports are saying that they would not back Rubio, the most recent polls speak to the popularity Rubio still enjoys throughout Florida’s Republican electorate.The most recent News13/Bay News 9 poll has Rubio trouncing Beruff by a 63-11 margin with 13 percent polls undecided.
This poll and others showing Rubio as the clear Senate choice for Florida Republicans could be an indicator of what the final vote tally will be in the upcoming August 30th primary election.
With that said, will Rubio soften his stance against Trump’s presidential candidacy?
While many voters understand that Rubio and Trump’s have some fundamental disagreements on certain issues, making nice and speaking warmly about the issues that the two men do agree on will probably go a long way with those “Trumpsters” still riding fence on whether to support Rubio’s Senate re-election campaign.
Beruff, who has spent over $3 million to get his statewide name into every Republican household in Florida, is now focusing his efforts on trying to dress down Rubio by hitting him on skipped and missed Senate votes, as well as missed hearings to the Senate committees the junior senator from Florida has been assigned to.But while his relentless attacks against Rubio continue to raise political eyebrows around the state and country, Beruff’s past support for then-Republican Charlie Crist over Rubio in the historic 2010 GOP senate primary, could prove to be the death blow to his senate campaign.
Crist, now a Democrat, is hated among the states Republican electorate. I mean Republicans really do loathe Charlie, so by effectively tying Beruff to the most likeable and successful political chameleon in the history of American politics, Rubio could end up trouncing the Manatee County homebuilder on election day.
Rubio will most likely beat Beruff in the primary race and then face-of against the presumptive Democratic senatorial candidate, Rep. Patrick Murphy.
Murphy, whose CPA and small business background has been brought into question, is another one of those Charlie Crist Republicans.
Before he became a Democrat, Murphy was a Republican.We reported about Murphy’s political party switch-a-roo back in June 2011:
As a followup to our piece on Democrat candidate for Congress Patrick Murphy and his campaign disclosure problems, a subsequent search of the Miami Dade Supervisor of Elections records shows that Murphy was a registered Republican in Miami-Dade county from 2004 up until January of 2011 and he cast his vote in the 2010 elections as a registered Republican. Murphy changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat mere months ago- on January 10, 2011, according to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections.
Murphy is running for Congress in Congressional District 22, which spans over both Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Murphy is now a resident and registered voter in Broward County, but interestingly enough, he is not eligible to vote within the county according to the Broward Supervisor of Elections.-(Source)
Rep. Patrick Murphy and Charlie Crist
While we can only assume that Murphy voted for then-Republican Charlie Crist in the 2006 gubernatorial race in Florida, or having voted for him during the 2010 Senate primary race, Murphy is a Charlie Crist supporter.
At the very least, Crist is a Patrick Murphy Democrat. Crist has endorsed Murphy in both of his congressional campaigns, as well as in his 2016 Senate campaign.In turn, Murphy’s family and associates donated to Crist’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign against Republican Governor Rick Scott, while Patrick Murphy himself donated $1000 to the his friend Charlie’s failed bid be re-elected as governor of Florida.
