Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has surged to 41 percent support in a new national poll on the 2016 GOP field out Monday, leading his nearest competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, by 27 points.
Mr. Cruz was a distant second at 14 percent in the Monmouth University poll, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 10 percent and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 9 percent. No other candidate was above 3 percent.
“It has become abundantly clear that Trump is giving his supporters exactly what they want, even if what he says causes the GOP leadership and many Republican voters to cringe,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
In a Monmouth survey released in October, Mr. Trump had been in first at 28 percent, followed by Mr. Carson at 18 percent and Mr. Cruz at 10 percent. Mr. Rubio was at 6 percent in that poll.
Mr. Trump’s 61 percent favorable rating is also a new high. Twenty-nine percent said they have an unfavorable view of the billionaire businessman. Mr. Trump had been at a 52 percent/33 percent favorable/unfavorable split in October.
Sixty-five percent said they “strongly” or “somewhat” agree that Mr. Trump has the temperament needed to carry out the role of president of the United States. And 67 percent said they would be either “enthusiastic” or “satisfied” if Mr. Trump became the Republican nominee, compared to 28 percent who said they would be “dissatisfied” or “upset.”
National security and terrorism were the top issues for GOP primary voters, with 39 percent naming them as the most important and 18 percent naming them as their second choice.
The economy and jobs were next, with 19 percent naming those issues as the most important and 22 percent naming them as their second choice.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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