Christie 2016 run doesn’t entice Republican voters

Less than one-third of Republicans surveyed in a new poll would like to see New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie run for president in 2016.

Forty-one percent of Republicans would not like him to run and 31 percent would like him to run, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Wednesday. Twenty-six percent said they didn’t know enough about him to answer.

Mr. Christie’s political stock has taken a beating in recent months over questions of whether his staff ordered lane closures onto the George Washington Bridge to exact revenge on a Democratic mayor for not endorsing the Republican governor.

Meanwhile, strong Republican pluralities want to see former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky hop into the race.

Forty-one percent would like Mr. Bush to run, compared to 27 percent who would not. Thirty-nine percent would like to see Mr. Paul run and 21 percent would not.

A majority of Republicans polled said they did not know enough about either Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas or Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to say whether they should run for president, though Mr. Rubio received slightly more support among those who responded.

Thirty-two percent would like to see Mr. Rubio run compared to 15 percent who would not. Twenty-four percent would like Mr. Cruz to run and 15 percent would not.

Among Democrats, 82 percent would like to see former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton run. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. received the second-highest level of support among the Democrats offered in the survey; 42 percent of Democrats would like to see him run and 39 percent would not.

Most Democrats said they didn’t know enough about Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo or Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to say whether they should run.

The poll of 519 Republicans, 515 Democrats and 550 independents was conducted from Feb. 19-23. Each group has a margin of error of six percentage points.