Iowans Favor Chris Christie Over Hillary Clinton, Poll Shows

If the 2016 election were held today, Iowans would pick Republican Chris Christie over Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday.

The New Jersey governor led the former Secretary of State in the poll 45-40 percent. When Quinnipiac last polled Iowa voters in July, Christie and Clinton were tied at 41 percent.

In other hypothetical match-ups, Clinton would beat Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) by a single percentage point, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) by seven points and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) by seven points.

A separate poll by the Des Moines Register found that Iowans hold another potential presidential contender, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), in high esteem: He has a 73 percent approval rating from Republicans in the state. Eighty-nine percent of Iowa Democrats have a favorable opinion of Clinton.

Success in Iowa is crucial in presidential politics, as it both a swing state and the first state to hold a caucus or primary.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,617 Iowa voters by phone Dec. 10-15 and has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points. The Des Moines Register polled 650 eligible Iowa voters Dec. 8-11 and has a margin of error of 7.3 percent for Republicans and 8 percentage points for Democrats.