DENVER – Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson leads in Colorado among Republicans, according to a new poll.
The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday also highlighted that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton leads her two Democratic primary competitors by wide margins in Colorado, though she trails GOP candidates.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont would actually fare better than Clinton against Republicans in a general election, but not by much.
Carson has 25 percent of the Republican vote, according to the poll. Voters, however, are not convinced with his leadership skills, giving him the lowest grade, with 45 percent of respondents saying he has strong leadership skills, to 44 percent who say he does not.
Trailing Carson in the Republican race are Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida with 19 percent; Donald Trump with 17 percent; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with 14 percent; Carly Fiorina with 5 percent; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky with 3 percent; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 2 percent. Eleven percent of those surveyed were undecided.
“As winter moves into the Rockies, Coloradans say the Democratic front-runner would get bruised and beaten by all the top GOP opponents, and absolutely crushed by Sen. Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The survey includes 474 Republicans and 404 Democrats.
Not helping Clinton is her favorability rating, the lowest of any top candidate in Colorado, with only 33 percent of respondents offering a favorable opinion of Clinton, compared with 61 percent who have an unfavorable view of her.
Rubio has the best score for honesty, with 58 percent of respondents saying he is honest and trustworthy, to 28 percent who believe he is not.
Sanders also has the best score for honesty among Democrats and the second-best among all candidates, at 56 percent who say he is honest and trustworthy, to 30 percent who say he is not.