There is still speculation that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will run for President in 2016, but if she does decide to pursue the White House, a new poll finds that she would win in Texas.
No Democrat has been able to claim the electoral votes of Texas since Jimmy Carter squeaked out a victory over Gerald Ford in 1976, but according to the data gathered by Public Policy Polling, Hillary Clinton would win in Texas if that election was held today.
Tom Jensen, a pollster at PPP, said the key reason the former First Lady polls so strongly in Texas is that she has solid support among Democrats; 91 percent have a favorable view of her. Independents also support her with a 52-41 favorability spread, but Jensen said Clinton has her admirers even among Republicans.
“One thing that definitely wouldn’t have been imaginable 20 years ago is that Clinton has unusual appeal to Republicans for a Democrat," said Jensen. "She still only has about 20 percent of Republicans with a positive opinion of her but that’s actually higher than what you would see from most Democratic national figures at this point.”
But 2016 is a long time away, which would give any GOP opponent to Clinton plenty of time to remind Texans of her political baggage that dogged her while her husband was President – Whitewater, travelgate and Hillarycare.
Today the former New York Senator holds narrow leads in hypothetical match ups against possible GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio and Chris Christie. the poll also shows that Clinton would clobber Gov. Rick Perry if he should decide to run for president again – even in his home state.
