(UPI/Kevin Dietsch)
DES MOINES – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is behind or on the wrong side of a too-close-to-call result in matchups with three leading Republican contenders, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today.
Perhaps the biggest loser, however, is Donald Trump, who has negative favorability ratings of almost 2-1 in each state, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds. The Swing State Poll focuses on key states in the presidential election.
In several matchups in Iowa and Colorado, another Democratic contender, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, runs as well as, or better than Clinton against Rubio, Bush and Walker. Vice President Joseph Biden does not do as well.
Clinton gets markedly negative favorability ratings in each state, 35 – 56 percent in Colorado, 33 – 56 percent in Iowa and 41 – 50 percent in Virginia.
The worst favorability ratings for any Democrat or Republican in the presidential field belong to Trump: 31 – 58 percent in Colorado, 32 – 57 percent in Iowa and 32 – 61 percent in Virginia.
“Hillary Clinton’s numbers have dropped among voters in the key swing states of Colorado, Iowa and Virginia. She has lost ground in the horserace and on key questions about her honesty and leadership,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “On being a strong leader, a key metric in presidential campaigns, she has dropped four to 10 points depending on the state and she is barely above 50 percent in each of the three states.”
“Against three Republicans, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Secretary Clinton trails in six matchups and is on the down side of too-close-to call in three,” Brown added.
“That’s compared to the April 9 Quinnipiac University poll in which she was clearly ahead in five of the matchups and too-close-to-call in the other four. One other key takeaway is that Vice President Joseph Biden, who is considering a 2016 run, does better than Clinton on honesty and on caring about voter needs, always a key Democratic strong point.”
“Donald Trump stands out for the wrong reason among the 17 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination: His large negative favorability rating means his growth potential is not as attractive as his competitors.”
Matchups in each state show:
Colorado Iowa Virginia
* Clinton 38 36 41
* Rubio 46 44 43
* Clinton 36 36 39
* Bush 41 42 42
* Clinton 38 37 40
* Walker 47 45 43
* Biden 35 37 41
* Rubio 49 45 45
* Biden 36 37 40
* Bush 45 44 45
* Biden 36 36 41
* Walker 48 47 45
* Sanders 35 36 37
* Rubio 46 43 44
* Sanders 37 38 36
* Bush 43 42 46
* Sanders 36 36 36
* Walker 44 44 44
Colorado voters say 62 – 34 percent that Hillary Clinton is not honest and trustworthy; 52 – 46 percent that she has strong leadership qualities and 57 – 39 percent that she does not care about their needs and problems.
Bush gets a negative 35 – 50 percent favorability in Colorado, where voters say 48 – 40 percent that he is honest and trustworthy, 58 – 31 percent that he has strong leadership qualities and 48 – 40 percent that he does not care about their needs and problems.
Colorado voters give Rubio a positive 39 – 28 percent favorability rating and say 43 – 30 percent that he is honest and trustworthy, 47 – 29 percent that he has strong leadership qualities and 43 – 35 percent that he cares about their needs and problems.
Walker gets a 35 – 25 percent favorability rating in Colorado. Voters say 40 – 30 percent that he is honest; 46 – 23 percent that he has strong leadership and 38 – 33 percent that he cares about their needs.
“Hillary Clinton’s numbers on honesty and trust may border on abysmal but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the GOP front runner, is still battling a name recognition handicap,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Do Colorado voters trust Hillary? No, they do not. Do they think she cares about their needs? No they do not.
“So the door is open to a GOP candidate voters can believe in.”
Iowa
Hillary Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, Iowa voters say 59 – 33 percent. She is a strong leader, voters say 52 – 43 percent, but she does not care about their needs and problems, voters say 55 – 39 percent.
Bush gets a negative 37 – 45 percent favorability in Iowa. Voters say 44 – 35 percent that he is honest and trustworthy and 54 – 32 percent that he has strong leadership, but voters say 47 – 38 percent that he does not care about their needs and problems.
Iowa voters give Rubio a positive 36 – 27 percent favorability rating and say 45 – 23 percent that he is honest and trustworthy; 47 – 23 percent that he has strong leadership qualities and 43 – 30 percent that he cares about their needs and problems.
Walker gets a 38 – 23 percent favorability rating from Iowa voters. Voters say 41 – 30 percent that he is honest; 50 – 24 percent that he has strong leadership and 42 – 32 percent that he cares about their needs.
“Because Iowa is the scene of the first caucus, Iowa voters are exposed to the presidential campaign more and much earlier than those in any other state with the possible exception of New Hampshire,” Brown said. “The result is that they see campaign television ads many months before most of the rest of the country. The large drop in Secretary Clinton’s favorability in Iowa, from a split 45 – 47 percent in Quinnipiac University’s April 9 survey to a big negative 33 – 56 percent today, has to be worrisome for her.”
Virginia
Hillary Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, Virginia voters say 55 – 39 percent. She is a strong leader, voters say 54 – 42 percent, but she does not care about their needs and problems, voters say 50 – 45 percent.
Bush gets a positive 43 – 39 percent favorability in Virginia. Voters say 51 – 33 percent that he is honest and trustworthy and 63 – 28 percent that he has strong leadership qualities, but split 44 – 41 percent on whether he cares about their needs and problems.
Virginia voters give Rubio a 36 – 27 percent favorability rating and say 45 – 27 percent that he is honest and trustworthy; 43 – 28 percent that he has strong leadership and 41 – 36 percent that he cares about their needs and problems.
Walker gets a 36 – 26 percent favorability rating in Virginia. Voters say 39 – 26 percent that he is honest; 46 – 24 percent that he has strong leadership qualities, but split 37 – 33 percent on whether he cares about their needs.
“Virginia’s two presidential candidates, former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore and former Democratic U.S. Sen. James Webb, are unknown even to large numbers of Virginians, as 62 percent of voters don’t know enough about Gilmore to form an opinion. Webb’s favorability is a lackluster 30 – 23 percent,” Brown said.
From July 9 – 20 Quinnipiac University surveyed:
1,231 Colorado voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points;
1,236 Iowa voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points;
1,209 Virginia voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.
