A new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday night says Ted Cruz is right on Donald Trump’s heels, and that Trump is polling just barely ahead of the Texas senator, 40-35 percent.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich sits in third place with 24 percent support. The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.
But as close as Cruz is, he was actually closer in March, when Trump had 30 percent and Cruz had 27 percent. Since then, Trump picked up 10 points, while Cruz picked up just 8.
There were other good signs for Cruz, however. More Republicans could see themselves voting for Cruz over Trump — 63 percent to 61 percent. Also, 33 percent said they could not see themselves supporting Cruz, compared to 38 percent who said the same for Trump.
Kasich has the lowest percentage of Republicans who say they could not support him at 33 percent, while 61 percent said they could support him.
Trump does outperform Cruz among a handful of Republican subgroups, including those who do not have a college education (45-38 percent) and men (42-38 percent).
Cruz does better with conservative voters, while Kasich leads both Trump and Cruz among self-identifying moderate or liberal Republicans.
The poll of 310 Republican primary voters was conducted April 10-14 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.
In Tuesday’s New York primary, Trump seeks a delegate sweep of all 95 available. Cruz and Kasich look to stop his momentum as he seeks the 1,237 necessary to become the GOP nominee.
