Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is closing in on Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in the key early primary state of New Hampshire, according to a poll by Boston’s NPR station WBUR released Wednesday.
The latest survey of likely Republican voters in the Granite State demonstrates the depth of support for Washington outsiders in the 2016 election cycle.
Trump, Carson, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina hold the top three spots among Granite State Republicans, according to the poll. And Carson, who is second in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings, is quickly ascending to a close second place behind Trump.
The New York businessman currently leads Carson 22 to 18 percent, while Fiorina holds the No. 3 support with 11 percent.
“This is a much closer race than we’ve seen over the last few months in pretty much any state,” Steve Koczela, a spokesperson for MassINC Polling Group, which commissioned the survey, told WBUR.
“But it’s similar to a couple polls that have come out just in the last few days, and a couple in Iowa from the last few weeks, that have shown Ben Carson doing much better against Donald Trump than anybody has done in quite a while,” he added.
Carson has seen a surge in support between the first Republican primary debate and the second debate to be held tonight. A recent Monmouth University poll showed the soft-spoken GOP hopeful in a dead heat with Trump in Iowa, with both garnering 23 percent support among likely Republican voters in the Hawkeye State.
Meanwhile, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s tied for fourth at 9 percent support in the WBUR poll while the rest of the GOP field polled at 5 percent or less.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents in the same poll said it is “very important” their chosen candidate is unafraid to say “what he or she truly believes.” Among Trump supporters, that number climbed to 94 percent.
Results for the WBUR poll are based on a survey of over 400 likely voters in the New Hampshire Republican primary between Sept. 12-14. The poll has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.
