A poll released Tuesday found Chris Christie enjoying widespread support among Republicans in his regional stomping ground, but facing an uphill climb elsewhere.
The NBC News survey found that 57 percent of Republicans in the Northeast would back the newly re-elected New Jersey governor in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. Pluralities of Republican primary voters in the South, Midwest and West, however, indicated they would back another candidate over Christie.
In a hypothetical 2016 general election matchup, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed an edge over Christie among voters nationwide, 44 percent to 34 percent.
The poll showed Clinton with the support of the same coalitions that helped secure two terms for President Barack Obama. She topped Christie among black voters (83 percent to four percent), Latinos (44 percent to 33 percent) and voters aged 18-29 (45 percent to 31 percent).
Christie has been omnipresent since his landslide re-election victory last week, gracing the cover of TIME for the second time this year and making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows.
But Christie’s victory lap has also brought reminders of the intraparty challenges that could threaten his White House bid.
A day after Christie’s victory, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) each took turns paying the governor bankhanded compliments. In an interview this week, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said he still blames Christie’s response to Hurricane Sandy for securing Obama’s re-election.
