- The Washington Times - Friday, October 31, 2014

Mitt Romney has said repeatedly he’s not running for president again, but if he were to throw his hat in for a third presidential run, a new poll said he’s well-positioned for a solid start.

The former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee leads all GOP comers with 17 percent of the vote in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll taking the temperature of Iowa voters on their 2016 Republican and Democratic presidential preferences.

The second choice among Republican candidates is Mr. Romney’s running mate in 2012, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who got 13 percent of the vote. Mr. Ryan is followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 12 percent, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 10 percent apiece.

Next comes Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 8 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 7 percent.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania — who eked out a narrow win over Mr. Romney in the 2012 Iowa caucuses — got 6 percent, as did Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas was at 5 percent.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton got 60 percent of the vote in a would-be Democratic nominating contest, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was second with 17 percent, with no other Democrat getting more than 4 percent of the vote.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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