In a new national poll of possible Republican primary voters, Donald Trump has a large, 20-point lead with 36 percent support. The poll from CNN shows Trump’s closest rival is Ted Cruz at 16 percent, with Ben Carson at 14 percent and Marco Rubio at 12 percent. On the other end of the poll, one-time frontrunner Jeb Bush has fallen to 3 percent support, tied with Carly Fiorina, and with Chris Christie edging him out slightly at 4 percent.
The poll surveyed 455 registered voters who are Republican or Republican-leaning independents. Some have cast doubt the poll’s sampling accurately reflects a GOP primary electorate.
Nevertheless, Trump appears dominant, with the CNN poll giving him a Real Clear Politics poll-average of 30.8 percent support, his highest yet in the 2016 primary. According to the RCP average of national polls, Carson is seeing a steady decline in support while both Cruz and Rubio are experiencing small upticks.
