In the continuing war for the soul of the Republican Party, the 2016 New Hampshire primary is shaping up to be an intriguing battleground.
According to a new WMUR Granite State Poll, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie lead a crowded potential GOP primary field in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
While neither Paul (17 percent) nor Christie (16 percent) earned a high enough share of the support to be a true front-runner, the two likely candidates have for the time being gotten some separation from the rest of the field.
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the third-place finisher in the poll, was in single digits at 9 percent.
Meanwhile, the uphill climb faced by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio—who has fallen off in early state polling following his full-throated push for comprehensive immigration reform—was demonstrated by his 4 percent showing in the survey.
Rubio’s showing was only good enough for a tie with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is not expected to be competitive in New Hampshire, if he runs again.
A head-to-head race between Paul and Christie in New Hampshire would showcase a clash between the GOP’s libertarian and establishment wings, both of which are well represented among the Granite State’s electorate. And the winner of that battle could emerge in prime position going forward.
After decades in which South Carolina GOP primary voters were able to boast of their record correctly picking the eventual Republican nominee, the Palmetto State slipped up in 2012 when Newt Gingrich won the first-in-the-South primary over eventual standard-bearer Mitt Romney.
New Hampshire Republican primary voters, by contrast, have voted for their party’s eventual nominee in each of the last two contests.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton remained the runaway New Hampshire favorite in the new poll, earning the support of 64 percent of likely Democratic primary voters.
Tied for a distant second place were Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both of whom came in with just 6 percent of the vote.
The survey of 236 likely Republican primary voters and 252 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted Oct. 7-16. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 6.4 percentage points on the Republican side and plus or minus 6.2 points on the Democratic side.
Paul, Christie Neck and Neck Among N.H. GOP
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