Poll: Christie leads Clinton nationwide

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) leads former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) in a hypothetical 2016 matchup, according to a new poll out Tuesday.

The survey, from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, gives Christie 45 percent support among registered voters nationwide to Clinton’s 42 percent support.

{mosads}That result tracks closely with the outcome of a survey of Iowa voters out this week, which gave Christie a 5-point lead over Clinton.

Clinton leads every other potential Republican presidential contender, but they all keep that lead to single digits, with Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush down by 5 points, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is down by 8 points.

Clinton is the only potential Democratic presidential contender that keeps Christie’s lead down to single digits, however — every other Democrat tested trails him by anywhere from 11 to 22 points.

Christie’s advantage lies primarily in his crossover appeal. He draws 12 percent of Democrats and leads Clinton with independents, 49-26 percent, while a quarter remain undecided.

Clinton also ties or loses every age group past 30 years old to Christie. She maintains strong support among the constituencies that elected President Obama, however, including young voters, blacks and Hispanics.

Both Clinton and Christie lead their respective primary fields, Christie with 19 percent support and Clinton with 66 percent support.

Cruz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee come in close behind Christie in a Republican primary, trailing him by 5 and 6 percentage points with Republican primary voters, respectively.

Still, the most popular Republican tested is Huckabee, who enjoys a favorable rating from 65 percent of Republican primary voters polled.

The survey was conducted among 1,316 registered voters from Dec. 12-15, and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. PPP also surveyed 600 GOP primary voters and 453 Democratic primary voters from Dec. 13-15.