Donald Trump has reopened his double-digit lead over Ben Carson, just two weeks after the retired neurosurgeon temporarily held the title of Republican presidential front-runner.
Trump edges Carson by 10 points in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, earning 32 percent support among GOP voters to Carson’s 22 percent. Another poll, released Monday by Fox News, shows Trump leading Carson 28-18 percent.
The New York businessman also tops the GOP field in support among nearly every demographic, with the exception of evangelical voters, in the Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Trump leads his rivals by 10 points among men, 11 points among women and 16 points among self-identified moderate Republicans. Trump also carries a two-point lead among college-educated voters, 14-point lead among voters without a college degree and a one-point lead among “very conservative” voters.
Carson, meanwhile, edges Trump by 6 percentage points among evangelical Republicans and is more widely seen as honest and trustworthy — 34 percent of voters see those attributes in Carson while 23 percent see it in Trump. Carson also leads Trump 26-20 percent as the candidate with the “best personality and temperament to serve effectively as president.”
In third place, behind the two outsiders, is Marco Rubio. The freshman senator from Florida earns 11 percent support among Republicans and is trailed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, at 8 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, at 6 percent. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is the only other candidate to stand above 3 percent, earning 4 percent support among GOP voters.
While Bush is seen as the most-qualified candidate to be commander in chief — 33 percent of respondents said he has the “best experience,” compared to 21 percent who chose Trump — only 10 percent of voters think he has the “best chance of getting elected” next November. Trump leads the latter category with 38 percent of respondents viewing him as the most electable candidate.
The Washington Post/ABC News poll surveyed 1,004 adults between Nov. 16-19, including 373 Republican-leaning registered voters. Overall results contain a margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percent.
