PPP’s newest Pennsylvania poll really highlights how far the 2 most local potential Republican candidates for President in 2016 have fallen as the race begins to really kick off.
Last June Chris Christie led the Republican field for President in the state with 23%. Since that time Christie has lost more than half of his support from GOP voters, and now musters just a tie for 4th place in the state. Christie’s net +2 favorability rating with Republicans at 39/37 puts him at least 20 points behind everyone else we tested in the state.
Christie’s plummet is not confined to Republican voters though. In November of 2013 he led Hillary Clinton 48/44 in the state. Now Clinton has a 10 point advantage over him at 49/39. Christie’s overall favorability with folks is 30/48.
Christie’s standing in Pennsylvania is poor, but it’s not as bad as the state’s former Senator Rick Santorum. Out of 9 potential candidates we tested for the Republican nomination, Santorum finishes in last place with just 6%. Santorum was already stuck in 6th place on our last poll with just 8%, but his stock has continued to fall. In addition to his poor showing with Republicans Santorum also does the worst of any Republican in a head to head with Clinton, trailing 52/36.
Clinton dominates both the general election field and the Democratic primary contest in the state. In addition to her big leads over Christie and Santorum she’s also up double digits on the rest of the GOP hopefuls- 50/40 over Mitt Romney, 49/38 over Jeb Bush, 50/39 over Rand Paul, 51/39 over Mike Huckabee, and 51/37 over Ben Carson.
Clinton continues to dominate the Democratic field as well, getting 58% to 13% for Joe Biden, 11% for Elizabeth Warren, 5% for Bernie Sanders, and 1% each for Martin O’Malley and Jim Webb. It is worth noting that Clinton is not quite as dominant as she had been last summer though. She’s dropped 7 points from her 65% standing in June, while Warren is up 6 points from her 5% standing and Biden is up 4 points from his 9% standing.
Three Republicans rise to the top of the potential candidate field. Ben Carson at 18% and Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney both at 14% are the only possible candidates to hit double digit support. There’s a crowd at 9% including Christie, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz, and they’re followed by Scott Walker at 8%, Rand Paul at 7%, and Santorum bringing up the rear at 6%. With 9 candidates within 12 points of each other it’s obvious the GOP contest is pretty much up for grabs.
Overall no real surprises in Pennsylvania- solid leads for Clinton against both Republicans and Democrats, and a wide open GOP field is pretty much par for the course everywhere these days.
Full results here
