A new Monmouth poll of registered or leaning Republican primary voters nationally finds New York businessman Donald Trump continuing to lead in the crowded GOP field. Trump’s support is at 30 percent, 4 points higher than he was in Monmouth’s August poll and 17 points higher than in its July poll.
Only one other presidential candidate registered in double digits: neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who had 18 percent support, up from just 5 percent support in August. The remaining candidates polled below 10 percent, including Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz at 8 percent, Marco Rubio at 5 percent, Mike Huckabee and Carly Fiorina at 4 percent, and Scott Walker at 3 percent. Rounding out the top 11 are Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich at 2 percent each.
Besides Trump and Carson, most of the candidates remain about where they were in Monmouth’s poll last month. The biggest losers in August appear to be Walker, who dropped eight points, and Bush, who dropped four.
Trump also dominates in hypothetical match-ups with his GOP rivals. The reality-TV star would beat Bush, Rubio, Christie, Kasich, Cruz, Fiorina, Walker, and Paul in head-to-head contests for the nomination. Only Carson would defeat Trump, 55 percent saying they prefer Carson to Trump’s 36 percent.
The poll has a relatively small sample of 366 Repulbican or Republican-leaning voters.
