Presidential candidate Donald Trump is still polling strong among Republicans nationwide and in key primary states, although pundits insist his candidacy isn’t built to last and two prominent contenders — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — are keeping him company at the top.
Mr. Trump, a real estate mogul whose brash comments about illegal immigration and Sen. John McCain’s war record have polarized the GOP, enjoys 18 percent of support among Republicans in a new CNN/ORC poll.
Mr. Bush clocks in at 15 percent, and Mr. Walker at 10 percent.
Tested among a broader pool of voters, Mr. Trump would lose hypothetical matchups against both Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and upstart challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“Bush and Walker run just behind Clinton and about even with Sanders,” CNN found.
Meanwhile, an NBC-Marist poll shows Mr. Walker is king of the hill in Iowa right now, at 19 percent, with Mr. Trump and Mr. Bush coming in second and third, at 17 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
A smattering of “second-tier” candidates garnered single-digit support, including retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 8 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 7 percent.
A pack of candidates brought in support from 1 percent or less of Iowan Republicans, including former Sen. Rick Santorum, who won Iowa’s GOP caucuses in 2012.
The same NBC poll has Mr. Trump leading in New Hampshire — the next stop on the path to the GOP nomination — at 21 percent, compared to 14 percent for Mr. Bush and 12 percent for Mr. Walker.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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