September 21 , 2014 - Midterm elections will be held on Tuesday November 4 this year. That will make Wednesday November 5 the start of the 2016 presidential race. To get to the November 2016 presidential election a potential White House contender will first have to win their parties presidential nomination. While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to dominate in the early key states of Iowa and New Hampshire , on the Republican side a clear front runner had yet to emerge.

A recent poll of Iowa voters showed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee leads with 21%. Huckabee is no stranger to Hawkeye voters as he won the Iowa Republican presidential caucus in 2008. Currently in second place is Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan with 12% followed by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky with 7%. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are both tied with 6%.

Rounding out the GOP contenders in Iowa is Texas Governor Rick Perry and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida both with 5%, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Louisianan Governor Bobby Jindahl with 4% each and the winner of the 2012 Republican Iowa Caucus former Senator Rick Santorum with 3%.

A look at the 2016 Republican presidential primary at the moment shows a far different and more clouded picture. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky currently leads his fellow Republicans with 15%. Next up is Jeb Bush and Paul Ryan both with 10%. Unlike Iowa where Huckabee is clearly  the front runner, in New Hampshire he is mired in the pack at 9% as is the chief executive of the Garden State Christie.

All stuck in a three way tie at 7% are Perry, Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. In the bottom tier of candidates are Cruz at 6% , followed by Santorum and  Jindahl both at 3%.

On the Democratic side of the playing field , Hillary Clinton continues to lead her potential challengers by a wide measure.

In Iowa Clinton polls 53% followed by Vice President Joe Biden at 15%, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts with 7% , Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont with 5%, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo with 3% and bringing up the rear Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley with 2%.

In New Hampshire, where her husband in 1992 President Bill Clinton earned the nickname the "come back kid" Hillary Clinton is favored by 60% of those polled. Her closest competitor is Warren at 11%, Biden at 8%, Sanders at 7% and Cuomo and O'Malley both at 1%.

Between November 5 2014 and January 1, 2015 will be decision time for a lot of these candidates to decide if they will officially mount a presidential campaign. For a good number of these candidates listed in these polls actually becoming president nevermind even winning their parties presidential nomination seems like an extreme long shot.

While it might seem that these polls are including all potential White House hopefuls it is possible that there is a candidate out there who could emerge to win their parties nomination and ultimately even the White House itself.