Q-Poll: Hillary Tops Prez Field, Cuomo Loses To Christie And Ryan

On Capitol Tonight,  YYN website

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tops the 2016 presidential field, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo would lose to both New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Rep. Paul Ryan were he the GOP nominee according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

The poll found that Cuomo would struggle in a head-to-head matchup against rising Republican stars like Ryan and Christie, while he would tie Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with each garnering 37 percent.

The Q-poll found that Ryan, the 2012 vice presidential nominee, would top Cuomo 42 percent to 37 percent. Christie, who has worked well with Cuomo as the governor of a neighboring state, has a large head-to-head lead over Cuomo, 45 percent to 28 percent.

Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York, tops every Republican in a head-on race.

“Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would start a 2016 presidential campaign with enormous advantages,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “She obviously is by far the best known and her more than 20 years in the public spotlight allows her to create a very favorable impression on the American people. But it is worth noting that she had very good poll numbers in 2006 looking toward the 2008 election, before she faced a relative unknown in Barack Obama.”

Clinton’s possible candidacy is seen as freezing the Democratic field with less than three years to go before the primary season begins.

Cuomo so far has denied he has any interest in running for president in 2016, saying that he’s focused on his job here in New York. Cuomo is up for re-election in 2014.