Raleigh, N.C. – The latest PPP poll in Arkansas has Hillary Clinton losing to each of the Republicans she was polled against in a potential 2016 Presidential race. Clinton trails Jeb Bush 41/46, Chris Christie 41/42, Ted Cruz 42/46, Mike Huckabee 39/55 and Rand Paul 42/45. Huckabee received by far the most support when Republicans were asked to select who they most wanted to see as their GOP candidate in 2016.
When given a choice of nine potential Republican candidates for president; Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan and Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee was the overwhelming choice in the state where he served as Governor. Huckabee received 33% support, 21 points ahead of the second place Cruz at 12%. Bush came in third receiving 10% support and no other candidate received more than 8% support. Huckabee received significantly more support from women than men. Among Republican women, 38% would pick Huckabee as the 2016 nominee whereas only 29% of Republican men would prefer Huckabee.
Term-limited Democratic Governor Mike Beebe has excellent approval ratings, with 60% of voters approving and only 23% disapproving of his job performance. Additionally, when polled on a potential 2016 Senate race between Beebe and current Republican Senator John Boozman, Beebe wins the potential matchup 46/40. The poll shows that many voters have not developed an opinion about Boozman. When asked about the Senator’s job performance 34% of voters said they approved, 28% disapproved but 38% said they were unsure.
The poll also found that former Governor of Arkansas and President Bill Clinton still remains fairly popular in the state. When asked about their opinion of the former President, 50% of voters said they had a favorable opinion of him and 43% said they had an unfavorable opinion. This included 20% of Republicans who said that they had a favorable opinion of Clinton.
PPP surveyed 1066 Arkansas voters, including 479 Republican primary voters, from August 1st to 3rd. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/-3.0 % and for the Republican primary voters it’s +/-4.5%. 80% of interviews for the poll were conducted over the phone with 20% interviewed over the internet to reach respondents who don’t have landline telephones.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
General Election Toplines
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor
Mike Beebe’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 60%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 23%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 18%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator John
Boozman’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 34%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 28%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 38%
Q3 If the candidates for U.S. Senate in 2016 were
Democrat Mike Beebe and Republican John
Boozman, who would you vote for?
Mike Beebe…………………………………………….. 46%
John Boozman………………………………………… 40%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q4 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb
Bush, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 41%
Jeb Bush………………………………………………… 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q5 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Chris
Christie, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 41%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%
Q6 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted
Cruz, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 42%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q7 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mike
Huckabee, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 39%
Mike Huckabee ……………………………………….. 55%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 7%
Q8 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rand
Paul, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 42%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q9 Do you think Mike Huckabee should run for
President in 2016, or not?
Think he should run …………………………………. 42%
Think he should not …………………………………. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q10 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Bill Clinton?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 50%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 7%
Q11 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 37%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 54%
Someone else / Don’t remember ……………….. 9%
Q12 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 10%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 14%
Moderate………………………………………………… 28%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 27%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 22%
Q13 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q14 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 35%
Republican……………………………………………… 34%
Independent / Other…………………………………. 31%
Q15 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 81%
African-American …………………………………….. 13%
Other……………………………………………………… 6%
Q16 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 12%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 18%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 44%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 26%
Q17 Mode
Phone ……………………………………………………. 80%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%
Republican Primary Toplines
Q1 Given the choices of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie,
Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Rand
Paul, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Scott
Walker, who would you most like to see as the
GOP candidate for President in 2016?
Jeb Bush………………………………………………… 10%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 8%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 12%
Mike Huckabee ……………………………………….. 33%
Bobby Jindal …………………………………………… 5%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 7%
Marco Rubio …………………………………………… 4%
Paul Ryan ………………………………………………. 3%
Scott Walker …………………………………………… 6%
Someone else / Not sure ………………………….. 11%
Q2 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 1%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 4%
Moderate………………………………………………… 13%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 40%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 42%
Q3 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 46%
Man……………………………………………………….. 54%
Q4 If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to
65, press 2. If you are older than 65, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 27%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 45%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 28%
