2016 polls: Clinton tops Christie in three major states
(CNN) - Hillary Clinton tops Chris Christie, Rand Paul and Paul Ryan in hypothetical showdowns in three states, according to new multi-state survey.
And a majority of voters questioned the polls by Roanoke College in Virginia, Rutgers-Eagleton in New Jersey and Siena College in New York state, say they have a favorable view of the former secretary of state and name her most often as the one eligible person that they'd most like to see as the next president.
The surveys indicate Clinton topping Christie, the two-term New Jersey governor, by 36 percentage points in New York, where she served eight years as a U.S. senator, by 8 points in Virginia, and by 10 points in Christie's home state, in possible 2016 presidential election matchups.
According to the polls, which were released Tuesday, Clinton leads Paul, the first-term senator from Kentucky by 43 points in New York, 14 points in Virginia and 29 points in New Jersey. And she's ahead of Ryan, the House Budget Chairman and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, by 37 points in the Empire State, 11 points in the Old Dominion, and 25 points in the Garden State.
New York and New Jersey are reliable states for Democrats in presidential elections, with Virginia a crucial battleground. The survey indicates Clinton with a 64% favorable rating in New York, 59% in neighboring New Jersey, and 56% in Virginia.
"It's early, very early, but in these three states worth 56 of 270 electoral votes needed to win, Hillary Clinton is well-liked, the top choice by margins of four or five to one in New York and Virginia and named more than twice as often in Governor Christie's home state," said Don Levy, Director of the Siena College Research Institute.
"Head to head, she is untouchable in New York, has majorities in New Jersey and a lead in the potential battleground state of Virginia over not only two lesser known Republican hopefuls, Paul and Ryan, but over Christie who can no longer muster 50 percent favorable in any of the three states."
Clinton and Christie were basically all tied up in Virginia in a separate survey from Christopher Newport University that was released Monday.
Clinton's said she'll decide by the end of this year whether she makes a second bid for the White House. Virtually every poll indicates she'd become the overwhelming frontrunner for the Democratic nomination if she runs. Christie, Paul and Ryan are among a large group of Republicans who are considering 2016 campaigns for president.
Polling indicates no real frontrunner among the potential GOP contenders. Christie's poll numbers both nationally and in his home state have taken a hit because of the George Washington Bridge controversy that's ensnared his administration.
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