Washington - Five White House hopefuls are tied atop the Republican nomination race, a national poll released Thursday showed, making it anyone's guess that will battle Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The leading quintet, who include former Florida governor Jeb Bush -- who has yet to declare his candidacy -- and Senator Marco Rubio, were clustered at 10 percent support each, with none beating the early frontrunner Clinton in head-to-head matchups.
Also bunched at the top, according to Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, are three arch-conservatives: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker; former Arkansas governor and preacher Mike Huckabee; and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
Libertarian-leaning Senator Rand Paul trailed with seven percent, while Senator Ted Cruz claimed six percent and business magnate Donald Trump five percent.
The 2016 Republican field is the most crowded in decades.
Conservative ex-senator Rick Santorum launched his campaign Wednesday, while George Pataki, the moderate governor of New York during the 9/11 attacks of 2001, jumped in on Thursday.
In a sign many Americans have yet to begin processing the presidential race, 20 percent of Republican respondents said they did not yet have a favoured candidate.
Among the Republicans, "no one has any real traction," Quinnipiac assistant director Tim Malloy told AFP.
"When the top five are barely cracking double digits it tells you that no one is jumping out in front of the pack. And so far Hillary Clinton, if there were an election today, would not be challenged."
A poll average compiled by RealClearPolitics shows Bush leading the Republican pack with 14.8 percent, followed by Walker at 13.0 and Rubio at 12.2.
AFP
