James R. Carroll

WASHINGTON - First, the good news for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul: he is gaining on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a hypothetical 2016 presidential match-up.

Now, the bad news: Paul is behind some other contenders in support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and his standing in the tea-party wing of the Republican Party has eroded considerably.

Those are a couple of takeaways from a new Marist Poll released Thursday.

Clinton still leads all GOP challengers in the 2016 presidential race, but she no longer enjoys double-digit leads and now does not have the support of a majority of voters, the survey finds.

Clinton leads former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 48 percent to 41 percent, tops New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 47 percent to 41 percent, and has a 48 percent to 42 percent advantage over Paul.

A Marist Poll in April showed Clinton with a 14-point lead over Paul, an 11-point lead over Christie and a 16-point lead over Bush.

"There is no pre-season for team Clinton," Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a statement. "She needs to perform at Super Bowl level from start to finish."

Paul has shown early strength in other surveys, but the Marist Poll shows the Kentuckian slipping nationally among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who would vote in GOP primaries and caucuses.

In an April Marist Poll, Paul was tied for second place with Christie and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan - each receiving 12 percent. Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were tied for first with 13 percent each.

Now, Bush and Christie share first place with 13 percent support each, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 10 percent, Ryan and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 9 percent each, and Paul sharing fourth place with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, each with 7 percent.

Among tea-party Republicans, Paul enjoyed 20 percent support in Marist's April poll. Now, that has plunged to 7 percent. The new tea party leader is Cruz, at 15 percent, up from 6 percent in April.

Nearly 1 in 4 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are undecided about a 2016 choice, underscoring the wide-open nature of the GOP presidential race at the moment.