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POLITICS

GOP Voters Agree With Romney on Need for A New Face

Republican voters agree with Mitt Romney that their party should look for someone new to run in 2016.

In announcing his decision today not to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, Romney said:  “I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee. In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case.”

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Likely Republican Voters share Romney’s view and say their party should look for a fresh face to run for president in 2016. 

In a survey in late December, only 42% of GOP voters thought Romney should run again in 2016.

Thanks largely to name recognition at this early stage of the game, Romney led among nine of the most prominent GOP presidential hopefuls, but he earned only 24% support. The support for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson were the bigger surprises in that survey.

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Many Republicans have questioned the potential candidacies of Romney and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, wondering whether they are too moderate for the party base. A lot of GOP voters already think they are more conservative than their elected representatives.

Democratic voters have their complaints with Washington, D.C., but they remain more content with their party’s political representation than Republican voters are.

The race to be the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nominee is still Hillary Clinton’s to lose. 

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