He's Not Running, but Romney Still Leads 2016 GOP Field

A new poll by New England College shows that the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination remains wide open.

Leading the field right now is 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, even though he has said he isn't going to run. He received 22 percent support, followed by Rand Paul at 16 percent and Chris Christie at 13 percent. Next up were Ted Cruz at 10 percent, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan at 7 percent apiece, Scott Walker at 5 percent, Bobby Jindal at 3 percent and Rick Santorum at 2 percent.

Paul, Cruz, Jindal and Santorum are all scheduled to be in New Hampshire within the next month, and Ryan was just here last month to attend a fundraiser for Republican Congressional candidate Frank Guinta.

"This race is wide open and for now, it looks like the only thing that really shakes up the race is the presence of Mitt Romney as an option for voters," said Ben Tafoya, director of the New England College Poll. "Chris Christie’s political troubles in his home state have not affected his polling numbers. But we have seen early visits from some of these names, such as Bobby Jindal, and that also has had no effect on the polls. It’s early and voters are still gravitating to the most familiar names in the race."

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton continues to lead by a wide margin, receiving 60 percent support, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 13 percent, Joe Biden at 4 percent, Andrew Cuomo at 3 percent and Martin O'Malley at 1 percent.

"This poll does not bode well for the Vice President," said Wayne Lesperance, director of the Center of Civic Engagement at New England College. "Despite his daily connection to President Obama and this White House, it is not translating into any measurable democratic party support."