New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would soundly defeat Hillary Clinton in one 2016 swing state, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University.
Among voters in Colorado — a highly contested battleground state — Clinton is either tied with or slightly behind every potential Republican candidate, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
Christie is favored in Colorado over any other candidate from either party, with 48-29 percent saying he would make a good president. By comparison, 49 percent of those polled do not think Clinton would do a good job in the highest office, compared to 46 percent who think she would. Vice President Joe Biden fared even worse, with 66 percent saying he doesn’t have what it takes to run the country, compared to only 24 percent who think he would do a good job.
“The race might be hypothetical, but the lead is very real,” said Tim Malloy, the assistant director of the polling institute, in a press release. “Coloradans [are] showing the love for Garden State Gov. Christopher Christie, who for the first time is running well ahead of Hillary Clinton.”
That’s a huge change from the last time the polling organization ran the hypothetical race in Colorado in August, when the two were in a virtual tie at 43-42.
“Right now, Colorado voters say Gov. Christie is the only contender who would make a good president,” Malloy said.
The same poll showed slightly better results for Democratic Sen. Mark Udall against a varied field of candidates vying for the Republican nomination, even though Udall has an evenly split approval rating of 44-44 percent. The margin is thinnest with Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and businessman Jamie McMillan, with Udall holding a three-point lead over both, barely outside the poll’s 2.8 percent margin of error.
“Though running even or ahead of six possible Republican challengers, Sen. Mark Udall must be pulling for a quick fix of the Obamacare website and a change of heart by Coloradans who dislike the Affordable Care Act by a wide margin,” Malloy said.
Indeed, the poll shows Obamacare to be extremely unpopular in Colorado, but a margin of 56-40 percent opposed to it. Colorado is running its own health care exchange, which has been plagued with trouble and which has only enrolled 6,000 people in private insurance since Oct. 1.
Broken down by political affiliation, the results are stunning. Republicans oppose the health care law by a whopping 96-3 percent. Democrats favor Obamacare by 83-14 percent, but unaffiliated voters oppose the new law 59-35 percent.
Overall dissatisfaction with Obamacare extends to its namesake.
“Colorado voters disapprove 59-36 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing, his worst approval rating in any state or national Quinnipiac University poll since he was elected,” accordinig to the press release. “Even women disapprove by 52-41 percent, while men disapprove 66-31 percent.”
“President Barack Obama hits the rocks in the Rockies,” Malloy said. Obama won Colorado in 2012, 51 percent to Mitt Romney’s 46 percent.
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