A new poll shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney building a lead over President Barack Obama in the crucial swing state of Florida.

Romney was preferred by 47 percent to Obama's 41 percent among a random telephone survey of 1,722 registered Florida voters conducted between May 15 and May 21 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. That poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

The survey also indicated that having U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Miami on the Republican ticket with Romney would have little effect on voter decisions. Romney led Obama 49 percent to 41 percent with Rubio as his running mate.

The latest sampling of voter moods showed the candidates' opposing views on same sex marriage was a factor with one-third of the respondents.