A hypothetical presidential match-up between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) isn’t even close.
{mosads}According to a poll by Quinnipiac University, New Yorkers favor Clinton 58 percent to 31 percent, a dominant 27-point advantage that is well outside the survey’s margin of error. The margin is unchanged from a March, 2013, poll in which Clinton led Christie 59-32 percent.
The advantage is unsurprising, as Clinton is a former New York senator and New York is a reliably Democratic state in presidential elections.
In addition, Christie’s star has fallen recently due to the negative publicity stemming from the scandal over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. Christie is viewed favorably by only 41 percent of New Yorkers, while 38 percent view him unfavorably, a steep fall from the March, 2013, poll, in which he enjoyed 55 percent favorability and just 17 percent unfavorability.
The poll also pitted Christie against popular New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who has received some presidential speculation. Cuomo similarly led by a wide margin, with 50 percent support compared to just 34 percent for Christie. This marks a major reversal from a Siena College poll conducted last November that had Christie leading, 47 percent to 42 percent.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from Feb. 6-10 with a sample size of 1,488 New York voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.