Likely Republican voters who had backed Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio prior to their departures from the race have dispersed evenly between the remaining three GOP candidates, according to a new poll by the New York Times/CBS.
The campaign “suspensions” left 28 percent of conservative voters up for grabs. Donald Trump fared best, picking up 11 percent of the group, slightly more than Ohio Gov. John Kasich or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
The boost kicked the New York billionaire from February’s 35 percent to 46 percent, according to the March 17-20 poll. The jump makes Trump’s current standing his highest in the monthly poll since he announced his bid for the Oval Office last June.
Cruz maintained his second place ranking from February to March. He gained 8 percent, putting him at 26 percent.
Kasich received 9 percent, nearly doubling his February support level of 11 percent to 20 percent this month.
A total of 4 percent said they would not support any of the Republican candidates. The poll had a 6 percent margin of error.
