By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — For all you folks who think the presidential election cycle starts earlier and earlier, here you go.

Quinnipiac University is already out with its first poll of how possible 2016 contenders would fare in Pennsylvania and Hillary Clinton comes out on top.

Hillary Clinton is first among six possible candidates included in the survey. But if she decides to sit out the race, Tim Malloy – assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute – says there’s a guy on the other side of the Delaware River that Pennsylvania voters kinda like.

“Chris Christie probably crossed some party lines and did himself a lot of good during the terrible storm – even hugging President Obama. Chris Christie is a palatable candidate to a lot of moderate Republicans and to clearly more and more Democrats.”

Malloy says the Quinnipiac Poll shows Clinton would top Christie by five points. But he says Christie is second in the field of six, beating political figures from other neighboring states vice president Joe Biden of Delaware and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo by double digits.