Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush top the GOP’s list for a 2016 nominee, according to a nationwide poll out Friday.
The Public Policy Polling poll found 18 percent of Republicans said they prefer Huckabee as a nominee, and 15 percent prefer Bush.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul were the choice of 14 percent each. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is at 11 percent.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio gets six percent, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker get five percent, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gets four percent. Nine percent remain undecided.
If Huckabee opts not to run, Bush is a big beneficiary, becoming the choice of 21 percent of Republicans. Ryan also sees a jump, getting nine percent. Cruz moves up to 13 percent, Paul to 15 percent, and Rubio gets eight percent. 10 percent are undecided.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the choice of most Democrats, and she is also the most successful in match ups against the top choices of Republicans. She bests Huckabee 49 percent to 42 percent, while both Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren lose to him, 41-46 and 33-44, respectively.
Bush is the candidate that does the best against Clinton — she edges him 47 percent to 44 percent. Christie loses to her 42-46; Paul is five points down at 42-47, as are both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney (should he decide to make an unexpected run again for the White House), who each lose 43-48.
Rubio loses to Clinton 40-48. Cruz is the weakest Republican candidate against Clinton: she beats him 51 percent to 40 percent, the only match-up in which she gets over 50 percent of the vote.
The poll 1,152 registered voters from March 6 to March 9, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
The Republican results are based on a survey of 542 Republican primary voters over the same period, and the margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percent. The Democrat portion is based on responses from 429 Democratic primary voters and has a plus or minus 4.7 percent margin of error.