AP Photos Clinton, Huckabee lead '16 Iowa poll

The likely 2016 matchup in Iowa if the race were held today would be former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton against former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with Clinton ahead, according to a new poll.

Huckabee leads the Republican primary field in a Public Policy Polling poll out Thursday. The former governor and radio and television personality got 17 percent of the Republican primary vote, leading a top five of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, at 14 percent; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, at 13 percent; and Gov. Chris Christie and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, at 10 percent each.


Clinton is the far and away favorite on the Democratic side, leading the next closest challenger, Vice President Joe Biden, 67 percent to 12 percent.

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The former first lady and senator leads all her potential Republican challengers by at least 4 points. She tops Huckabee 46 percent to 42 percent, Bush 45 percent to 41 percent, Paul 47 percent to 42 percent and Christie 45 percent to 39 percent.

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The left-leaning polling firm surveyed 869 Iowa voters from Feb. 20-23 for the poll, which has an error margin of plus or minus 3.3 percent. The sample included 283 Republican primary voters with an error margin of plus or minus 5.8 percent and 335 Democratic primary voters with an error margin of plus or minus 5.4 percent.