Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has the edge over most of the top GOP candidates in hypothetical general election match-ups — all except Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Clinton edges Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in a new Public Policy Polling survey, 46 percent to 43 percent. The former secretary of state also bests Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (45 percent to 43 percent) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (44 percent to 39 percent).
However, she trails Rubio by one point.
“Our polling — both nationally and in swing states — is pointing to a close general election for President next year,” Dean Debnam, president of the liberal leaning Public Policy Polling, said in a press release Monday. “A lot of Democrats assume that if the Republicans nominate Cruz or Trump it will be an easy victory but they should be careful about overconfidence — Hillary Clinton finds herself in a tight race even against that pair.”
However, if Trump breaks his promise to not run as an independent, he will help boost Clinton’s chances. If he runs as a third party candidate, Trump receives 24 percent, pushing Clinton past Rubio, 41 percent to 27 percent. The same happens in a three-candidate match-up with Clinton and Cruz, as she would lead the Texas senator, 42 percent to 26 percent to Trump’s 23 percent.
The poll of roughly 1,200 registered U.S. voters was conducted Dec. 16-17 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
