Hillary Clinton’s 2016 lead has grown over the last month when pitted against the scandal-burdened Chris Christie in a new poll.
The former Secretary of State leads with 50% of the vote, compared to the New Jersey governor, who earned just 37% of the vote in the NBC News/Marist poll.
Christie has been embroiled by a scandal-fueled media storm for the last two weeks; news that top aides in his office orchestrated a traffic jam as political retribution broke, prompting Christie to cut two top aides out of his inner circle, and continues to develop as the investigations proceed.
The poll finds Clinton gaining quickly: last month, the same poll found her leading by just three points, with 48% of the vote to Christie’s 45%.
Christie is the only Republican who has showed any potential so far for defeating Clinton in 2016—in Iowa, Christie polled ahead of her just last month, bolstered by strong support from independent voters.
But a Monmouth University poll out earlier this week showed that independent voters are precisely the group Christie is losing ground with, thanks to the ‘Bridgegate’ scandal. Christie’s approval among independents fell from 73% a month prior to 62% in the poll, which was taken just days after Christie admitted his office’s “mistakes.” Other polls have shown voters overall giving the governor the benefit of the doubt. In a Quinnipiac survey, 51% of voters say he’s a trustworthy leader and 55% approve of the job he’s doing, according to the Quinnipiac poll. The poll surveyed 1,039 registered voters by mobile and landline between Jan. 12 and 14; the margin of error is +/- 3 points.
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