New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has increased her Democratic presidential primary lead in New Jersey while former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has seen his Republican primary lead shrink, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. But both front-runners remain deadlocked in a one-on-one matchup.
Among Democrats, Sen. Clinton leads Illinois Sen. Barack Obama 51 - 17 percent, with 7 percent for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. This compares to a 46 - 20 percent Clinton lead over Obama in an October 17 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.
Giuliani leads Arizona Sen. John McCain 38 - 12 percent, with 8 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 7 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and 4 percent for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. This compares to a 48 - 12 percent Giuliani lead over McCain October 17.
In a presidential showdown, Clinton gets 45 percent to Giuliani's 44 percent, unchanged from a 44 - 44 percent tie October 17.
"New Jersey voters know the girl and boy next door, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and apparently are sticking with them. There's no Oprah bump in Sen. Barack Obama's numbers and the Huckabee factor is minor in the Republican race, where Sen. John McCain is the second place contender," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"But Giuliani has slipped 10 points among Republicans and those votes seem to have bypassed McCain and gone to Gov. Huckabee."
"If Clinton and Giuliani are the nominees, the outlook right now is for a real horse race in normally Democratic New Jersey," Richards added.
<snip info about immigration>
From December 5 - 9, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,085 New Jersey voters with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. The survey includes 320 Republicans, with a margin of error of +/- 5.5 percentage points, and 387 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1299.xml?ReleaseID=1128Good news for Hillary in a Super Tues state