Polls

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are the front-runners for their parties' nominations both nationally and in the crucial early-voting state of Iowa, according to a survey released Thursday.

In the poll, from Public Policy Polling, 22 percent of Republicans chose Rubio in a hypothetical primary and 15 percent picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each took 13 percent support, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee got 11 percent and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) received 10 percent.

Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, ranks better among the heavily religious Iowa electorate, tying Rubio at 16 percent each in that state. Paul would have 15 percent of the vote if the caucus were held today, while Bush would garner 14 percent, Christie would take 12 percent, and Ryan would earn 1 out of every 10 voters.

Two immigration reform proposals — a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and increased border security spending — have strong support among the public, a Gallup survey found Tuesday.

Forty-three percent of voters view Hillary Clinton more favorably following her four-year tenure at the State Department.

Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has a big lead over Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in the special Senate election to fill Sen. John Kerry's seat (D-Mass.), according to a MassInc Polling Group survey released Friday.

President Obama’s approval rating is cooling off in the swing states that helped propel him to a second term in the White House, according to a Purple Strategies poll released Friday.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) has a strong lead over possible Democratic contenders in the race to succeed Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), according to a new poll.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) would be an overwhelming favorite for reelection to the Senate next year, but Republicans would struggle to retain her seat if she opted to retire, according to a new poll released Thursday.

The survey from Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling found that 63 percent of voters in Maine approve of the three-term senator, and she holds wide leads over the state's two House members. In a hypothetical head-to-head, Collins defeats Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) 54-36 percent and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) 58-33 percent. In either contest, Collins carries more than a third of self-identified Democrats and leads among independents by more than 20 percentage points.

But there are lurking dangers to Republican chances to hold the seat: the possibility that Collins retires or faces a Tea Party challenge from the right. While Collins has the approval of two-thirds of GOP voters, in a hypothetical primary matchup against a "more conservative" opponent, she leads only 49-46 percent. Three quarters of those who describe themselves as "very conservative" — the group most likely to vote in a Republican primary — say they would like to replace Collins.

A new survey indicates first-year college students have moderated their political views since 2008, with declining percentages calling themselves liberal and an increase in self-described "middle-of-the-road" youths since 2008.

The survey, conducted for the Cooperative Institutional Research Program among 192,912 freshman full-time students entering nearly 300 four-year colleges nationwide, shows that those describing themselves as "middle-of-the-road" increased by 4 percentage points since 2008. Liberal-identifying young people decreased by 4 percentage points for men, down to 26 percent, and 5 points for women, to 32 percent.

The number of youths identifying as conservative stayed largely steady since 2008, with 20 percent of women and about 26 percent of men identifying as conservative.

A new poll shows Clinton better poised than Biden to take the 2016 Democratic nomination.

According to the poll, 53 percent said they would want their congressman to vote in favor of Obama’s proposals.