Ben Carson has surged to the lead in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, while Hillary Clinton is cementing her lead over Democrats, according to a new national poll.
A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released early Tuesday says Carson grabbed 29 percent support in the poll, compared to Donald Trump’s 23 percent. The poll was conducted both before and after last week’s third presidential debate in Colorado.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took 11 percent, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 10 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 8 percent.
Other GOPers lag way behind: former tech CEO Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each have 3 percent, while Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is at 2 percent.
While Trump has been the Republican Party’s main man for the last few months, “this survey is about Dr. Ben Carson, who is currently the man to beat for the Republicans,” Democratic pollster Fred Yang, whose firm Hart Research Associates conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff, said in a statement.
On the Democratic side, Clinton garners double the support Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders does, and is leading him 62 percent to 31 percent, while former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley gets just 3 percent.
The poll was conducted Oct. 25-29, surveying 400 Democratic and Republican primary voters each, with each demographic holding margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
