Against GOP, Sanders runs stronger than Clinton in NH

Bernie Sanders performs better than Hillary Clinton against top GOP hopefuls in hypothetical general election match-ups in New Hampshire, a new poll found Friday.

The liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling’s survey found that Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont, bests all Republican candidates by double digits in head-to-head match-ups.

{mosads}He holds a 14-point lead over Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) while boasting a 20-point lead over GOP front-runner Donald Trump and the same advantage over Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Sanders is the only presidential hopeful in either party to achieve a positive favorability rating, 55 to 35 percent.

Clinton, the Democratic front-runner and former secretary of State, also wins, albeit by narrower margins. Clinton leads Rubio by 3 points, 45 to 42 percent; beats former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 46 to 40 percent; and bests Cruz, 48 to 40 percent. Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson suffer the biggest losses to Clinton, by 14 points and 11 points respectively.

“Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are doing a lot better in New Hampshire than they are in national polling,” Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in a release. “This appears to be one place where all the exposure the Republican field is receiving isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

In terms of the U.S. Senate race in the Granite State, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and likely Democratic opponent Gov. Maggie Hassan look set for a tight contest, with Ayotte leading Hassan 44 to 42 percent. The two-point difference is within the margin of error.

The Senate seat will be one of the more competitive races as Democrats seek to net five seats in order to regain the majority in the upper chamber. Republicans will be defending 24 seats in November whereas Democrats will be defending only 10.

A RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls shows Ayotte narrowly leading Hassan, 46.8 percent to 43 percent.

The poll was conducted from Jan. 4 to 6 and surveyed 1,036 registered voters via phone and Internet. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.