Elizabeth Warren's home state prefers Hillary Clinton
All the talk of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren upsetting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a Democratic presidential primary could be just that. Not only has Warren repeatedly stated she has no White House ambitions in 2016, but a new poll released by Suffolk University and the Boston Herald shows that Clinton would beat her handily right now, even in her home state.
Among 400 Massachusetts Democrats polled, 55 percent said they would vote for Clinton while just 17.25 percent would pick Warren. Vice President Biden, who also has an eye on the 2016 race, would get just 7.75 percent of the vote.
As a second choice, 27 percent picked Warren while Biden's success rate went up to 24 percent.
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Even though past candidates have been known to go back on their not-running-for-president pledge, including then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2006, Warren has been aggressive about denying her interest. On Friday, she had her attorney send a letter to the Federal Election Commission disavowing any involvement in grassroots efforts to draft her to run.
"This letter serves as a formal disavowal of the organization and its activity," Warren's attorney, Marc E. Elias, wrote to the FEC, according to the Boston Globe. "The senator has not, and does not, explicitly or implicitly, authorize, endorse, or otherwise approve of the organization's activities."
Warren is typically presented by supporters as a more progressive alternative to Clinton. She is well known for her work challenging corporate interests on Wall Street and income inequality.
Massachusetts voters don't have a clear preference on the Republican side, with several potential candidates - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and 2012 vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin - all earning between 10 and 11 percent of the vote.
When the state's former governor, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, was thrown into the mix, he received 49 percent of the votes as the first-choice candidate, with all the other Republicans falling below eight percent. While there has been some public support around the idea of a third Romney presidential bid, Romney says he's not running.
The poll was conducted from August 21-24 among 400 likely Democratic primary voters and 400 likely Republican primary voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent.