Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton loses to all leading Republican contenders by margins of 11 percentage points or more in hypothetical matchups in the key swing state of Colorado, according to a new Quinnipiac University survey.
The poll shows Florida Sen. Marco Rubio performs best in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup with Clinton, leading 52 percentage points to Clinton’s 36 points. Ben Carson bests Clinton by 14 percentage points, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz leads her by 13 points, and Donald Trump has an 11-point advantage on Clinton.
“A chilly if not frigid reception for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her second quest for the White House,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, in a statement. “As winter moves into the Rockies, Coloradans say the Democratic front-runner would get bruised and beaten by all the top GOP opponents, and absolutely crushed by Sen. Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson.”
Once a solidly Republican state, Colorado has shifted left in recent presidential elections, voting twice for President Obama. But in 2014, the state elected Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, and this poll signals the GOP still has momentum in the state. A victory there is seen as essential to GOP hopes to retaking the White House.
Carson leads the GOP field with the support of 25 percent of respondents surveyed, followed by Rubio at 19 percentage points, Trump at 17 points, Cruz at 14 points, and Carly Fiorina at 5 points.
Clinton leads the Democratic field with the support of 55 percent of Democratic respondents.
More than two-thirds of respondents said Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, and 57 percent said Trump is not honest. Carson “has the lowest grades for having strong leadership qualities, a divided 45 – 44 percent,” despite his lead in the poll.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,262 Colorado voters, including 474 Republicans, from November 11-15. The poll had a 4.5-percentage point margin of error among Republicans surveyed and a 4.9-percentage point margin of error among Democratic respondents. More than 5.35 million people live in Colorado, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 estimate.
