With scandals weakening New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, two national polls released this week show former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida gaining ground in the Rupublican search for a presidential candidate. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a strong lead over her rivals.
Christie was either at or near the top of most national polls last year, but after revelations that members of his administration orchestrated higher traffic in Fort Lee as a political payback, a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Wednesday found his standing among Republicans is dropping.
The poll shows U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., leads the Republican pack with 20 percent, with Bush right on his heels at 18 percent. Christie stands third with 13 percent, right ahead of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, with 12 percent. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., places fifth with 11 percent followed by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., while 2 percent back other candidates. Cruz and Paul also were near the top of the national polls last year.
Clinton crushes the rest of the Democratic field with 73 percent. Vice President Joe Biden places a very distant second with 12 percent, followed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with 8 percent. Other candidates pull the support of 1 percent of Democrats.
The poll contains other bad news for Christie. When matched head to head, Clinton takes 53 percent, Christie only 41 percent. While 43 percent believe the traffic incident was isolated, 46 percent think its a sign of broader problems with Christies leadership.
The poll of 1,003 American adults was taken Jan. 20-23 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent.
Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling (PPP) also released a national poll Wednesday showing Bush gaining, Christie slipping and Clinton romping over her fellow Democrats.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who moved to the Florida Panhandle after his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2008, leads the GOP field in the PPP poll with 16 percent, followed by Bush with 14 percent. Christie, who had been at or near the top of many PPP polls last year, drops to third with 13 percent, followed by Paul with 11 percent. Cruz, Rubio and Ryan all take 8 percent. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin follows with 6 percent, followed by Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana with 5 percent.
When Huckabee is taken out of the mix, Bush leads with 18 percent followed by Christie with 17 percent. Paul takes third with 13 percent, followed by Cruz with 11 percent and Paul with 9 percent. Rubio stays at 8 percent. Walker moves up to 7 percent and Jindal remains at 5 percent.
On the Democratic side, Clinton takes 67 percent while Biden and Warren are tied for second with 7 percent. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York garner 2 percent each. Other candidates -- U.S. Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand of New York, Gov. Martin OMalley of Maryland, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia -- take 1 percent each.
With Clinton out of the mix, Biden leads with 32 percent, followed by Warren with 16 percent. Booker and Cuomo tie for third with 7 percent, followed by Gillibrand with 3 percent, Schweitzer and Warner with 2 percent and OMalley with 1 percent.
When both Clinton and Biden are taken out of the equation, Warren leads with 24 percent followed by Cuomo with 13 percent and Booker with 11 percent. Gillibrand takes 4 percent, Schweitzer garners 3 percent, OMalley has 2 percent and Warner trails with 1 percent.
The PPP poll finds some of the Republicans running close to Clinton in possible general election match-ups. She beats Christie, Bush and Ryan by 2 percent and Huckabee by 3 percent. Clinton does better against Cruz, beating him by 6 percent.
The poll of 845 registered voters across the nation was taken Jan. 23-26 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent. The poll of 457 Republican primary voters was taken from Jan. 23-26 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percent. The poll of 334 Democratic primary voters was taken Jan. 23-26 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
