Poll: Clinton tops Christie for president in New Jersey

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is well-poised for reelection, according to a new poll, but he wouldn't be able to beat Hillary Clinton in his own state in a potential 2016 presidential matchup.

The Quinnipiac poll indicates Christie slightly lags Clinton in a potential presidential matchup, considered a top pick for Democrats in 2016. Clinton takes 49 percent support in the state to Christie's 45 percent support.

But it gives Christie 65 percent support to presumed Democratic nominee state Sen. Barbara Buono's 25 percent support. He's buoyed by large margins among Republican and independent voters, and Buono will need to shore up her base in the coming months, as she only leads Democrats with 51 percent support.

Buono's main difficulty at this point in the race is her lack of name recognition — a full 83 percent of voters don't know her enough to offer their opinion of her.

Nearly two-thirds of New Jersey voters continue to strongly approve of Christie, however, and he retains high favorability, with 69 percent rating him favorably, including 47 percent of Democrats rating him favorably.

The poll was conducted among 1,149 registered voters from Feb. 13-17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

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