There’s no clear single frontrunner among the field of 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls, according to a new Quinnipiac Poll released Thursday.
The poll, released Thursday, found five Republicans are leading the field of more than a dozen candidates. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker all got 10 percent support among those surveyed, the poll found.
Below them came Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) with 7 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with 6 percent, Donald Trump with 5 percent, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 4 percent. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailed the pack with 2 percent support each.
But none of the field beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup. The most competitive are Rubio, who got 41 percent while Clinton got 45 percent, and Paul who got 42 percent while Clinton got 46 percent.
Polling in the higher end of the field has taken on a new level of importance since Fox News announced that it would require candidates to poll in the top 10 of the five most recent national polls to qualify for the first GOP primary debate.
Based on the new Quinnipiac poll, Bush, Carson, Huckabee, Rubio, Walker, Paul, Cruz, Christie, Kasich, and Fiorina would qualify for the debate. Left out would be Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former New York Gov. George Pataki, and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA).
Santorum and Patacki are the only ones of that bunch who have announced they’re running for president, but the others have strongly hinted at White House bids.
The poll was conducted from May 19 to May 26 among 1,711 registered voters. It had an margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. Among the 679 Republican or Republican-leaning voters surveyed, the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
