Clinton, Carson lead, Rubio and Cruz on the rise: Polls

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer

With a little more than a year until Election Day 2016, Hillary Clinton has established herself as the clear frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination, while the Republican side is still very much up for grabs.

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll released Tuesday shows Clinton has opened up a 31-point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The former secretary of state has 62 percent support among likely Democratic primary voters compared with Sanders’ 31 percent. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley received just 3 percent support, the survey — conducted Oct. 25-29 — found.

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Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, greet guests at a Democratic fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa, in October. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential race

• Clinton: 62%
• Sanders: 31%
• O’Malley: 3%

Source: NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll (Oct. 25-29)

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Ben Carson speaks in Lakewood, Colo., last week. (Photo: David Zalubowski/AP)

The same poll showed retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson now has a 6-point lead over Donald Trump in the race for the Republican nomination.

Among likely Republican primary voters, Carson received 29 percent support, followed by Trump (23 percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (11 percent), Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (10 percent) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (8 percent).

Republican presidential race

• Carson: 29%
• Trump: 23%
• Rubio: 11%
• Cruz: 10%
• Bush: 8%

Source: NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll (Oct. 25-29)

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Marco Rubio in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. (Photo: Nati Harnik/AP)

Meanwhile in New Hampshire, Rubio is surging on the strength of his breakout performance in last week’s CNBC debate. A Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows the Florida senator has more than tripled his support among likely GOP primary voters in the Granite State. Rubio (13 percent) now sits in third place behind Carson (16 percent) and Trump (26 percent) in New Hampshire and ahead of Ohio Gov. John Kasich (11 percent) and Cruz (9 percent). Bush (7 percent) is a distant sixth.

New Hampshire GOP presidential race

• Trump: 26%
• Carson: 16%
• Rubio: 13%
• Kasich: 11%
• Cruz: 9%
• Bush: 7%
• Fiorina: 5%
• Christie: 5%
• Paul: 3%
• Huckabee: 1%

Source: Monmouth University poll (Oct. 29-Nov. 1)

“Marco Rubio’s standout performance in the last debate seems to have paid dividends in a contest that was supposed to be dominated by his former mentor, Jeb Bush,” Patrick Murray, Monmouth University Polling Institute director, noted in a press release.

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Ted Cruz speaks in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. (Photo: Nati Harnik/AP)

In Iowa, it’s Cruz who is on the rise. A new KBUR-AM poll of likely Republican caucusgoers shows the Texas senator in third place at 15 percent, trailing Trump (20 percent) and Carson (28 percent) but ahead of Rubio (10 percent) by 5 percentage points.

In June, the same poll showed Cruz with just 8 percent support among likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers. (On Saturday, Cruz picked up a key religious endorsement: Dr. Paul Chappell, a nationally recognized leader of independent Baptist Christians.)

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who won the 2012 Iowa caucuses with more than 24 percent of the vote, received less than 1 percent support in the latest poll.

Iowa GOP presidential race

• Carson: 28%
• Trump: 20%
• Cruz: 15%
• Rubio: 10%
• Bush: 9%
• Fiorina: 4%
• Christie: 2%
• Huckabee: 2%
• Kasich: 2%
• Paul: 2%

Source: KBUR-AM poll (Oct. 29-31)

Both parties, though, are once again facing an angry and dissatisfied electorate.

According to the NBC/WSJ survey, just 27 percent of voters believe the country is headed on the right track, while 54 percent “think the economic and political systems are stacked against them,” and 57 percent say “they’d rather fire their member of Congress” than re-elect him or her — numbers that are virtually unchanged from where they were before the Nov. 2014 midterm elections.