Story highlights
Sixty-two percent of Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire support Clinton
That is 49 percentage points higher than second place finisher Sen. Elizabeth Warren
New Hampshire has long been supportive of the Clintons, Hillary Clinton won the primary in 2008
But even Clinton supporters in the Granite State caution against seeing the state as already in the bag
New Hampshire remains Clinton country.
Sixty-two percent of Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire say that if the primary were held today, Hillary Clinton, the prohibitive favorite for the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nomination, would be their top choice, according to a Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm College poll released Monday.
The number is a whopping 49 percentage points higher than second-place finisher Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont finishes in third with 6% and Vice President Joe Biden finishes in fourth with 5%.
Although Clinton has not declared her second run at the presidency, the former secretary of state has admitted she is considering a run and many close aides see a campaign as all-but-certain at this point.
New Hampshire has always been welcome ground for the Clinton family. Bill Clinton’s surprising second place finish in the 1992 primary provided his campaign with a symbolic victory and re-energized the Arkansas governor as “The Comeback Kid.” Likewise, in 2008, after finishing a disappointing third in the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton used her New Hampshire primary win to right her campaign.
Despite her huge lead, even Clinton’s most ardent New Hampshire supporters have cautioned her to not take the Granite State as already in the bag.
“Inevitability is not a message, it is not something you can run on. And in New Hampshire, we have a long history of (frontrunner) train wrecks,” Terry Shumaker, a longtime Clinton aide in New Hampshire, said last week during a meeting of pro-Clinton Democrats.
Shumaker, who was with Bill Clinton when he filed his presidential bid papers in 1991, added: “As I caution all presidential candidates in New Hampshire, taking New Hampshire for granted is very dangerous. Last time I believe Hillary Clinton had an almost 30-point lead in the polls in our state in the summer and that lead melted like an ice sculpture on the mall in Washington in July.”
Monday’s poll, however, is not all good news for Clinton.
In a 2016 general election matchup between Clinton and Mitt Romney, the failed 2012 Republican nominee, Clinton’s one point lead is within the polls margin of error. When matched up against Jeb Bush, the former Republican governor, or Rand Paul, the senator from Kentucky, Clinton enjoyed a 8 and 7 point lead, respectively.
For Clinton Democrats, the end of the pre-campaign comes with concerns
The poll also has good news for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. In a 10-person field that includes 2012 GOP Romney, Paul’s the only other potential candidate to break double-digits, taking 11 percent support and coming in second to Romney’s 30 percent support among GOP primary voters.
With Romney out of the picture — though the former Massachusetts governor has left the door open, a third bid seems unlikely for him — Paul ties for first place with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Both take 16 percent support among GOP primary voters, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush comes in a close third, with 14 percent. The rest of the field takes single-digit support.
Paul’s strength in the state comes as no surprise, as its libertarian-leaning population drove his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, to a second-place finish in the 2012 GOP presidential primary there.
Indeed, the results may be more heartening for Christie, who’s considered Paul’s main challenger in the state but has suffered significant damage over the past year due to the scandal surrounding the George Washington Bridge lane closures that cast a pall over his administration.
The Bloomberg poll suggests, however, Christie remains competitive in his home region, and that the two will have a fierce fight for the all-important early primary state if they both decide to run, as expected.