A new U.S. national poll released Wednesday found former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani out in front in the race for the White House in 2008.

The Quinnipiac University poll found Giuliani ahead of fellow New Yorker Senator Hillary Clinton among registered American voters. The former mayor leads Clinton by 5 percentage points, 48 to 43.

Arizona Senator John McCain trails with 18 percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has said he may not run if Giuliani holds a commanding lead.

Giuliani has strong support among Republican voters, with 40 percent saying they are likely to vote for him.

As for the Democrats, Clinton has the support of 38 percent of those polled. Illinois Senator Barack Obama follows with 23 percent and former Vice President Al Gore is third with 11 percent. Gore has not said if he plans to run.

The poll was conducted between Feb. 13 and Feb. 19. The margin of error on this portion of the poll was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Source: Xinhua