Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sits atop a host of potential 2016 GOP presidential contenders in a new poll on the early primary state.
Mr. Graham is the choice of 17 percent of potential GOP primary voters in the NBC News/Marist poll, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 15 percent, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 12 percent, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent apiece.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was next at 7 percent, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 6 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 4 percent apiece, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 3 percent, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 1 percent.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads with 65 percent of the vote, followed by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at 20 percent.
Mrs. Clinton trails in a hypothetical general election match-up against Mr. Bush, 48 percent to 45 percent, and is tied with Mr. Walker at 46 percent apiece.
The poll of 877 registered voters was taken Feb. 3-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. The sample of 450 potential GOP primary voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points and the sample of 352 potential Democratic primary voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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