Departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be tough to beat in the 2016 election for president, but she could face a formidable challenge in New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie, a new Public Policy Polling survey has found.
The survey of 1,100 voters conducted Jan. 3-6 found that 64 percent would vote for Clinton, in both the Democratic primary and the general election — placing Clinton far ahead of a possible nine-way primary field that most likely would include Vice President Joseph Biden.
Clinton, however, would face a tough challenger in Republican Christie, PPP found. He trails her by only 2 points, 42 to 44 percent, in a direct contest — and 28 percent of survey respondents gave Christie an overall favorability rating, versus 15 percent for Clinton.
“As expected, Hillary Clinton would be the ideal Democratic presidential candidate in 2016,” said Dean Debnam, PPP’s president. “But if Chris Christie could win the GOP nomination, he’d be a formidable general election candidate.”
On the GOP side, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio leads the field with a favorability rating among 21 percent of those surveyed by PPP — followed by former vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, 16 percent; former Arkansas Gov. and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, 15 percent; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Christie, 14 percent each.
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