Clinton vs. Cruz, Clinton vs. Paul

Hillary Clinton, now officially a candidate for president in 2016, leads the first two announced candidates for the Republican nomination but earns less than 50% support at this early stage.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Clinton picking up 47% of the vote to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s 37% if the 2016 presidential election was held today. Eleven percent (11%) would choose some other candidate given this matchup, while five percent (5%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Clinton leads Texas Senator Ted Cruz by nine points - 47% to 38%. Again, 11% prefer some other candidate, while four percent (4%) are undecided.

Paul ran slightly closer to Clinton in a hypothetical matchup last June, 46% to 39%. Cruz trailed the former secretary of State 50% to 37% at that time.

In the latest matchups, Clinton is backed by 82% of Democrats, while about 70% of Republicans back Paul and Cruz. She runs even with the two GOP hopefuls among voters not affiliated with either major party. 

Separate polling finds Clinton well ahead of her rivals for the Democratic nomination. Republican voters rate Paul’s chances of getting the GOP presidential nomination as about the same as Cruz’s at this early stage of the game. 

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 9 & 12, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker surged to the front of the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls in recent weeks, and he now gives Clinton a run for her money. 

Regardless of their voting preferences, 70% of all voters agree that, in a presidential election season, the campaign lasts too long. Just 21% disagree. These findings are little changed from October 2011. 

Eighty-two percent (82%) of all voters say they are following recent news reports about the 2016 presidential race, including 40% who are following Very Closely. Even 72% of those who are following the news the closest think the campaign season lasts too long.

Among women, Clinton leads Cruz 49% to 36% and Paul 49% to 35%. Clinton leads by narrower margins among men.

Clinton holds overwhelming leads in both matchups among voters under 40. The hypothetical races are much closer among older voters. Both Republicans lead among voters 65 and older.

Most voters think both Republicans and Democrats should run newcomers in 2016. 

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is increasingly the favorite of left-leaning Democrats, but Clinton trounces her in a head-to-head matchup for their party’s 2016 presidential nomination. 

More voters than ever think the circumstances surrounding the murder of the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. Embassy employees in Benghazi, Libya in 2012 will hurt Clinton’s campaign.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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