A new Christopher Newport University poll has Hillary Clinton with a commanding lead among Virginia Democrats looking ahead to the 2016 presidential nomination race.
Clinton was at 80 percent among likely Democratic primary voters in Virginia, making it almost pointless to report on how the rest of the field fared.
Just to close that part of the reporting, Jim Webb was second, at 6 percent.
“For Democrats, Virginia is Hillary country,” said Tom Kramer, assistant director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at CNU. “She has strengthened her position since February relative to any of her potential Democratic challengers.”
Of note is that February polling had Clinton defeating all of the presumed top Republican presidential candidates in Virginia, most with Clinton getting more than 50 percent of the vote, but the April poll has Clinton falling below the 50 percent threshold across the board, and even losing In a hypothetical matchup with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 48 percent to 46 percent.
The CNU poll has Clinton ahead of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 47-45, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 49-46, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul 49-47, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio 49-45, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz 49-44, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker 48-43.
“Battleground Virginia will live up to its name in 2016,” said Kramer. “In the face of a barrage of attacks from her real and potential Republican challengers, Hillary Clinton’s once formidable position has weakened, as we knew it would. Even at this very early stage, the 2016 presidential election in Virginia is shaping up to be a closely f0ught contest.”
The GOP field is very fluid, as one would expect, with Bush holding a narrow lead among Virginia Republican voters, at 17 percent, with Rubio at 16 percent, Christie, Paul and Walker all at 10 percent, Cruz and Ben Carson at 7 percent, and Huckabee at 6 percent.
– Story by Chris Graham
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