Democrats favor Clinton in 2016 election

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she will not seek the presidency in 2016 although a majority of Democrats and independents said they would support her.

The results of a CNN/ORC International poll in Washington released Sunday showed 85 percent of Democrats and independents willing to back Clinton if she decides to run for president.

Ninety-three percent of Democratic women said Clinton likely would get their support, but only 79 percent of Democratic men said they would vote for her.

"Look, I'm flattered. I am honored. That is not in the future for me, but obviously I'm hoping that I'll get to cast my vote for a woman running for president of our country," Clinton said.

Two-thirds of Democrats said they were likely to support Vice President Joe Biden if he were to seek the presidency and 56 percent said they would be likely to support New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The poll results showed 59 percent of Republicans said they would support New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the 2016 presidential race, and close behind him in the poll was Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

CNN's telephone poll was conducted by ORC International on Dec. 17-18, with 290 Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, and 290 Republicans and independents who lean Republican. The sampling error was plus or minus 6 percentage points.