- The Washington Times - Thursday, May 28, 2015

Five candidates or possible candidates are tied at 10 percent atop a wide-open 2016 GOP presidential field in a new poll released Thursday: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Next was Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 7 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 6 percent, businessman Donald Trump at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 2 percent apiece, according to the poll from Quinnipiac University.

Among those in the top 10, counting the tie between Ms. Fiorina and Mr. Kasich, Mr. Carson, Mr. Huckabee, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Paul, Mr. Cruz, and Ms. Fiorina have officially announced they are running for president.

The top 10 declared candidates in an average of the five most recent national polls, as recognized by Fox News, will be allowed to participate in the first Republican debate on Aug. 6.

“Safe to say, the 2016 Republican presidential primary is anyone’s race. With no front- runner and identical numbers for the top five contenders, it’s a horserace which can only be described as a scrambled field — at least so far,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Mr. Trump was first on the question of which candidate voters would definitely not support for the Republican nomination at 21 percent, followed by Mr. Bush at 17 percent and Mr. Christie at 15 percent.

The survey of 1,711 registered voters was taken May 19-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. The poll includes 679 Republicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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