Paul Edges Christie in New Hampshire Poll

Rand Paul and Chris Christie are running neck and neck in a New Hampshire GOP primary poll, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads the Democratic field and every potential Republican presidential contender in a general election match up.

The Kentucky senator earns 20 percent of the vote, while his frequent sparring partner earns 19 percent in a Republican field that includes nine potential presidential candidates, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of 1038 New Hampshire voters taken September 13-16.

Among the other potential GOP candidates, 14 percent went to former Gov. Jeb Bush, 12 percent went to New Hampshire's homestate Sen. Kelly Ayotte, 10 percent to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, seven percent each to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

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Rounding out the poll, just 3 percent said they would vote for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and 2 percent went for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Paul and New Jersey Gov. Christie have frequently clashed over their different views of the direction the GOP should be going. 

Rubio's numbers have dropped significantly from the 25 percentage points he earned in the PPP survey taken in April when Paul also polled better, receiving 8 more percentage points five months ago. Christie and Bush have both earned more support from Granite State voters since then, when Christie earned 14 percent of the vote and Bush earned seven percent.

Despite having a smaller population than all but eight other states, New Hampshire is vital politically as it traditionally holds the first primaries in the run-up to the presidential election.

Clinton far surpasses her potential Democratic contenders with 57 percent of the vote, while a mere 12 percent of the vote goes to Vice President Joe Biden, 11 percent to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 4 percent to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, 2 percent to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 1 percent each to New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, and less than one percent to both Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

"Hillary Clinton remains an overwhelming favorite on the Democratic side even if she's slipped a little bit from this spring," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "Meanwhile the Republicans have lots of candidates drawing double digit support, although Marco Rubio has fallen precipitously from where he was in April."

The former First Lady leads not just the Democratic field but each of the potential Republican presidential candidates as well. Christie is the closest at 43-39. All the other GOP contenders fall behind Clinton at least eight percentage points.

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