Donald Trump, Ben Carson surging in GOP race: Poll
Just when the political world thought the Summer of Trump was over, a new CNN/ORC national survey shows the Donald is polling better than ever.
Donald Trump and retired Detroit neurosurgeon Ben Carson have surged to the top of the pack in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, the poll finds.
According to the results of the survey, conducted Sept. 4-8, Trump leads with 32 percent support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents — up 8 points since August to become the first GOP candidate to crack the 30 percent mark.
Carson sits in second place with 19 percent support — up 10 points since August, according to the poll. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, down 4 points since August, is in third at 9 percent, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (7 percent), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (5 percent) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (5 percent).
The CNN/ORC poll comes ahead of next week’s GOP debate in Simi Valley, Calif., which will be aired on CNN. The Republican National Committee will announce the participants of that debate later Thursday.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was tied with Walker for fourth in August, has seen his support fall 5 points (from 8 percent to 3 percent) in the new poll. Also at 3 percent: former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, who did not consolidate her post-debate bump.
• Donald Trump, 32%
• Ben Carson, 19%
• Jeb Bush, 9%
• Ted Cruz, 7%
• Mike Huckabee, 5%
• Scott Walker, 5%
• Carly Fiorina, 3%
• Rand Paul, 3%
• Marco Rubio, 3%
• Chris Christie, 2%
• John Kasich, 2%
Remarkably, Trump’s controversial comments about women have not hurt him among female GOP voters. The real estate mogul has seen support among women rise from 20 percent in August to 33 percent in the new poll. Among men, Trump is up just 4 points since August, with 31 percent of male Republicans and Republican-leaning independents supporting his candidacy.
“Carson’s gains, meanwhile, have come chiefly among core partisans,” Jennifer Agiesta, CNN polling director, wrote. “He’s up 13 points among Republicans and 11 points among conservatives — and he runs closest to Trump among white evangelicals (32% back Trump, 28% Carson), a key voting bloc within the Republican primary electorate.”
Carson is also riding a wave of Republican enthusiasm, the poll found:
Republicans are more than twice as likely to say they would be enthusiastic with Carson at the top of the ticket than if Rubio, Cruz, Walker or Bush led the GOP into 2016, and while he and Trump are about even in enthusiasm (43% would be enthusiastic if Carson got the nod, 40% if Trump did), fewer say they would be disappointed if Carson emerged the victor (20% would be dissatisfied or upset if Carson won, 32% if Trump did).
And those who believe Trump’s summer surge will soon fade, take note: A majority of Republicans (51 percent) now believe the former “Celebrity Apprentice” host will ultimately emerge as the party’s nominee, while 19 percent Bush will be at the top of the GOP ticket.
Also of note: In July, 14 percent of Republican voters said they thought Walker would win the GOP nomination. In the new poll, just 1 percent believe he will.
