Poll: Trump beats Clinton head-to-head

A new poll finds Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton losing to four top Republican presidential contenders, including Donald Trump, in hypothetical general election matchups.

Clinton trails Republican primary front-runner Trump by a 45-43 margin head-to-head, according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Wednesday.

{mosads}Clinton also loses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), 45-44, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), 48-42 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, 49-38.

Her Democratic primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), fares slightly better against the GOP competition, besting Cruz by a 44-42 margin.

But Sanders still loses to Trump by 1 point, 44-43, Kasich by 3, 44-41, and Rubio by 4, 46-42, head-to-head.

Many of the results are within the poll’s 3-point margin of error.

“Bernie Sanders is closing the Democratic primary gap and is stronger than Hillary Clinton in the general election,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said in a statement.

Paleologos also highlighted Kasich’s strong showing in the general election match-ups, on the heels of his second-place finish in New Hampshire.

“On the Republican side, John Kasich’s strong second-place showing has made him more appealing in the general election than Marco Rubio, who faltered in the Republican debate leading up to New Hampshire,” he said.

The USA Today/Suffolk poll surveyed 1,000 voters by telephone from Feb. 11–15.