Donald Trump is at the top of a new national poll, making him the first Republican candidate to garner above 30 percent of support in the race for the nomination.
The billionaire business man garners 32 percent of GOP support — a number that has nearly tripled since just after he launched his campaign in June. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson garners 19 percent, a 10 point jump since August, in the new CNN/ORC national poll.
Neither Trump nor Carson have ever served in elected office.
Suffering from a 4-point decrease since August, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush follows Trump and Carson with 9 percent. Next comes Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 7 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 5 percent each. All other candidates finished within the margin of error (plus or minus 4.5 percentage points).
Trump’s rise in support can be found among women and those with college degrees. From August to now, he is up from 20 percent to 33 percent. His support among those with college degrees has gone from 16 percent in August to 28 percent now.
Also among Tea Party supporters, Trump has risen 14 points from 27 percent in August to 41 percent now. Carson (21 percent) and Cruz (11 percent) follow Trump with Tea Party movement support.
So will Trump get the nod? Most republican voters (51 percent) believe Trump is most likely to emerge as the GOP winner.
The telephone-based poll was conducted Sept. 4-8 of roughly 470 self-identified Republican voters or independent voters leaning Republican with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
