by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is well known - but apparently not so well liked - in his home state, according to a new Business and Economics Polling Initiative (BEPI) survey.

In fact, Bush comes in far down the list of Republican presidential hopefuls.

In a poll BEPI conducted November 15 and 16, businessman and TV huckster Donald Trump is way ahead among likely Republican voters, with 36% support.

Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio comes second with 18%, followed by Ben Carson (15%), and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (10%). Bush trails with only 9% of respondents.

'Despite conjecture that Donald Trump has plateaued, his support in Florida remains very strong and could be growing,' said Kevin Wagner, associate professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University and BEPI research fellow.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has an enormous 44-point lead over Bernie Sanders, 66% to 22%.

The downside for Clinton is that she continues to trail among Florida voters in head-to-head matchups with the Republican frontrunners, trailing Carson 50% to 41%, and Trump 49% to 41%. On the other hand, 'while Clinton is losing in all the trial heats, she is winning among females,' BEPI director Monica Escaleras noted. 'Thus it appears that her strategy of targeting women is working.'

While Trump and Clinton are clear frontrunners among Florida voters, neither one of them is well liked, according to the BEPI poll.

Trump has a favorable rating of just 41% among all voters, while 51% have an unfavorable impression of him. His numbers are more positive among likely GOP voters, however, with 63% favorable compared to 32% unfavorable.

Clinton has the same problem, with voters giving her a 41% favorable rating, compared with 54% saying they have an unfavorable impression of her. Among self-identified independent voters, Clinton's numbers drop to 35% favorable and 56% unfavorable.

BEPI surveyed 355 Republicans and 297 Democrats for their party primary survey, and 829 registered voters regardless of party preference for their head-to-head general election matchups. The margin of error for the party polling was between 5.2 and 5.6 points, and for the general election polling, 3.3 points.

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