2016 Presidential Preferences Of Mississippi Republicans

I have been posting on the early preferences for the 2016 presidential race as polls question voters on the races this year in each state, and toss in as an extra question the current choices for the 2016 presidential race. Now it is Mississippi's turn.

Harper Polling surveyed 570 likely Republican primary voters in Mississippi between April 3rd and 5th. The survey has a margin of error of about 4.1 points.

Frankly, I was a little surprised at the results of this poll. Mississippi is one of those states where the Republican Party is under complete control of the teabaggers (with 57% saying they supported the ideals of the Tea Party, and only 21% saying they opposed them) -- so I would have expected a teabagger candidate (like Cruz or Paul) to be the early favorite. But that's not what the poll showed. The current leader among Mississippi Republicans is Jeb Bush (a conservative for sure, but probably the most moderate conservative among the candidates).

And while other state polls have shown the candidates bunched together with no real leader, this poll shows Bush as a clear leader -- with a 17 point gap between him and the second place finishers (Cruz and Christie). That's a much bigger lead than can be accounted for by the margin of error.

Of course this poll was taken before Bush came out in the last few days and blasted the Republican Party's stance on immigration reform. The teabaggers don't want immigration reform. They just want to station thousands of troops on our southern border to keep minorities out, and to deport as many minorities as possible. Bush's stance on immigration reform is courageous (considering his party membership), but I'll bet it is going to cost him a lot of support.