Jeb Bush, Ben Carson tied atop crowded Republican field, Fox poll shows

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson sit atop a crowded 2016 GOP field at 13 percent apiece in a new Fox News poll, with both men gaining on other contenders compared to last month.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was next at 11 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was at 10 percent, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was at 9 percent.

Next was Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 7 percent, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 6 percent apiece. No other candidate or potential candidate included in the survey topped 4 percent.

Support for Mr. Carson and Mr. Bush both jumped up from a survey taken in April, when Mr. Carson was at 6 percent and Mr. Bush was at 9 percent. Mr. Rubio had led that survey at 13 percent, followed by Mr. Walker at 12 percent and Mr. Paul at 10 percent.

Mr. Carson and Mr. Huckabee both announced last week they are running for president, as did former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who was at 1 percent in the poll. Mr. Cruz, Mr. Paul, and Mr. Rubio had all previously announced they are running.

Compared to other Republicans, Mr. Bush actually fared the best head-to-head against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the choice of 63 percent of Democratic primary voters in the poll. He led Mrs. Clinton by 1 point, 45 percent to 44 percent.

Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, had 6-point, 48 percent to 42 percent leads over Mr. Carson and Mr. Walker, a 5-point, 48 percent to 43 percent lead over Mr. Cruz, a 4-point, 47 percent to 43 percent lead over Mr. Rubio and a 3-point, 47 percent to 44 percent lead over Mr. Huckabee.

She also had a 12-point, 49 percent to 37 percent lead over Ms. Fiorina and an 8-point, 48 percent to 40 percent lead over Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

The full survey of 1,006 registered voters was taken May 9-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The margin of error among Democratic primary voters was plus or minus 5 percent, and the margin of error among Republican primary voters was plus or minus 4.5 percent.