Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont leads a handful of 2016 GOP presidential contenders by double digits in New Hampshire, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is locked in much tighter races in the state against the same Republicans, according to a new survey.
Mr. Sanders had a 23-point lead over GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, 57 percent to 34 percent, and a 23-point, 56 percent to 33 percent lead over Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, according to a CNN/WMUR survey released this week.
Mr. Sanders had an 18-point lead over Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, 55 percent to 37 percent, a 23-point, 57 percent to 34 percent lead over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and a 21-point, 54 percent to 33 percent lead over Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, had a 9-point lead over Mr. Trump, a 6-point lead over Mr. Cruz and a 3-point lead over Mr. Christie, was running even with Mr. Kasich, and trailed Mr. Rubio by 1 point.
Mr. Sanders had a 27-point lead, 60 percent to 33 percent, over Mrs. Clinton among Democratic voters in the survey.
“Although Bernie Sanders currently holds a significant 27 percentage point lead in the latest CNN/WMUR/UNH New Hampshire primary poll, one of the arguments that has been used against him is that he is less electable than Hillary Clinton in a general election,” reads a memo accompanying the poll.
“While neither party has chosen their nominee, and the election is 10 months away, Bernie Sanders is currently the most electable candidate among both parties,” the memo said.
The Clinton campaign this week accused Republicans of trying to boost Mr. Sanders’ candidacy, saying the GOP would prefer to face him over Mrs. Clinton in a general election.
“While Senator Sanders tries to make a case on electability based on meaningless polls, Republicans and their super PACs have made clear the candidate they’re actually afraid to face,” said Clinton campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri.
In a blog post, Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer responded by saying that both are flawed candidates.
“When Hillary Clinton launched her campaign last May, who would have thought she would be tanking in the polls against a 74 year old socialist from Vermont and blaming GOP tweets for their problems in unhinged press releases two weeks out from the Iowa caucuses?” Mr. Spicer wrote. “Does this also sound like a candidate ready to take over the Oval Office one year from today?”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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