Sen. Rubio for vice president?

(CNN) – Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tops a new survey of potential GOP vice presidential picks released Wednesday.

And hot on his heels, Rep. Michele Bachmann fares better as an option for vice president than she has in recent national polls measuring support for Republican presidential contenders.

The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll indicates that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Bachmann and Rubio were mentioned most as top picks for the vice presidential nominee - long before the presidential nominee has been determined.

Rubio received 61 mentions to the open-ended question of whom voters would choose as the second person on the GOP presidential ticket. Bachmann and Gingrich were tied at 60 mentions each.

Gingrich has led the field in recent national surveys, but Bachmann has been polling in the single digits of support.

Their closest competitor is also a candidate for the top spot on the GOP ballot. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was mentioned 38 times in the survey.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008, was chosen 13 times and bested by a non-Republican political leader. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the second-highest ranked female in the poll, with 16 mentions.

Of other names that have been tossed around as running mates, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ranked fifth with 29 mentions, real estate mogul Donald Trump had 3, and sitting governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Bob McDonnell of Virginia were only mentioned once.

The Fairleigh Dickingson University poll was conducted by telephone from November 29-December 5 among 740 registered Republican and independent voters. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.