Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has the edge over retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, according to a national poll released Wednesday.
Mr. Trump was at 26 percent in the Fox News poll conducted after last week’s GOP debate, followed by Mr. Carson at 23 percent, then Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 11 percent apiece.
From there, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were at 4 percent apiece.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina was at 3 percent, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was at 2 percent.
Mr. Bush had the biggest drop from October, when he had been at 8 percent, while Mr. Kasich picked up 3 points of support, from 1 percent.
Thirty-seven percent of GOP primary voters said Mr. Trump is most likely to beat former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the general election, followed by Mr. Carson at 18 percent and Mr. Rubio at 11 percent.
On the Democratic side, Mrs. Clinton had a 25-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 56 percent to 31 percent, with former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at 2 percent.
Mr. Trump was also judged most qualified to be commander-in-chief by 19 percent of Republicans, followed by Mr. Carson at 17 percent, Mr. Cruz at 13 percent, Mr. Rubio at 10 percent, and Mr. Bush at 9 percent.
A solid plurality of GOP voters also judged Mr. Trump the most qualified to handle the economy. Forty-two percent said so, with Mr. Cruz next at 10 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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