Clinton favorite in Iowa field in early 2016 Swing State Poll

DES MOINES - Hillary Clinton doesn't reach 50 percent, but tops the field in Iowa in head-to-head match-ups with potential 2016 GOP presidential rivals, according to a new Swing State Poll released this morning.

Not only does the former secretary of state best the Republican field in Iowa, but she also leads in Virginia and Colorado, two other key swing states in the 2016 presidential election, according to Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. She tops Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul 43 to 41 percent in Colorado and 44 to 42 percent in Virginia.

In Iowa, Quinnipiac found Clinton would beat any of the leading GOP contenders:

45 - 38 percent over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee;

45 - 37 percent over Paul

44 - 34 percent over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

45 - 35 percent over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

45 - 35 percent over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Although Clinton trails among male voters by margins of 3 to 14 percent, her lead among women ranges from 20 to 28 percentage points in Iowa. Her lead among independent voters ranges from 9 to 16 percentage points.

Iowa voters give Clinton a 49 - 40 percent favorability rating while favorability ratings for the Republicans are negative or divided:

28 - 38 percent for Christie;

25 - 37 percent for Bush;

28 - 31 percent for Paul;

35 - 33 percent for Huckabee;

21 - 23 percent for Walker with 55 percent who don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

The poll found that in each state White House ties are a bigger problem for Bush than Clinton.

'Gov. Jeb Bush has a family problem. Many voters don't like him coming from a family of presidents,” Brown said. 'If voters are still saying by 4-1 margins this makes them less likely to vote for him when the balloting begins, that will be trouble for him.

In Iowa, 35 percent of voters are less likely to vote for Bush, while 8 percent are more likely and 57 percent say it won't make a difference.

'Few voters, however, say they are put off by Mrs. Clinton being the wife of former President Bill Clinton,” Brown said.

Only 18 percent of voters are less likely to vote for Clinton because of her husband, while 15 percent are more likely and 66 percent say it will make no difference.

The fact that Hillary Clinton would be the first woman president makes no difference in their vote, 77 percent of Iowa voters say.

'Iowa is where Hillary Clinton does best, especially among those critical independent voters, a key swing group in a key swing state,” Brown said.

Other findings in the three-state poll included the fact that Christie is the poorest performing Republican, trailing Clinton by margins of 5 to 10 percentage points, while each of the other Republicans is in the running in at least one state.

Walker has the lowest name recognition of any of the candidates.

'Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wins the ‘fresh face' award, doing well against the Clinton standard, especially when he still remains an unknown to many voters,” Brown said. 'Huckabee is within an average of 5 points of her in these three key states.”

From Feb. 5-15, Quinnipiac live interviewers called landlines and cellphones to survey 1,089 Iowa voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and the nation as a public service and for research.

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