Rubio’s Poll Numbers Up as 2016 Speculation Mounts

As speculation mounts over a possible Marco Rubio run for the 2016 Republican nomination, Zogby Analytics is out with a new poll that puts Rubio right in the mix with his potential competitors.

A new Zogby Analytics of likely Republican primary voters shows that the 2012 nominee (Mitt Romney) is in the lead for 2016, but only three points ahead of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and current Florida Senator Marco Rubio.The poll of 223 likely primary voters was conducted online January 16-18 and has a margin of sampling error of +/-6.6 percentage points.

Rubio’s critics and competitors may point to the poll’s high margin of error, but they can’t dismiss the media attention speculation around a Rubio run is current generating.

Romney is on top with support from 16% of the voters, followed by Bush and Rubio with 13% each. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is next with 11%, followed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee with 9%, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker at 6%, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindahl with 4%, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz all at 3%. Other names included South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez, and former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum — all receiving less than 1%.

An ABC News exclusive on Rubio is generating headlines across the Internet. Rubio is making it clear that a Jeb Bush run will not impact his own plans.

Sen. Marco Rubio has begun taking concrete steps toward launching a presidential bid, asking his top advisors to prepare for a campaign, signing on a leading Republican fundraiser, and planning extensive travel to early-voting states in the coming weeks, ABC News has learned.

Rubio will join two other potential candidates, Senator’s Ted Cruz and Rand Paul at a Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce event this Sunday.

Three of the Republicans considering runs for the White House in 2016 are set to participate in a forum on Sunday in Palm Springs sponsored by the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit affiliated with conservative philanthropists and donors Charles and David Koch.