Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has a 3-point lead on his nearest 2016 GOP rival, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, according to a new poll that showed support for both men tick up since September.
Mr. Trump was at 25 percent — his highest mark in NBC News/Wall Street Journal polling since he entered the 2016 race, while Mr. Carson was at 22 percent. Mr. Trump was at 21 percent and Mr. Carson was at 20 percent in an NBC/WSJ poll from last month.
Sen. Marco Rubio was in third at 13 percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 9 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 8 percent and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina at 7 percent.
Support for Mr. Cruz ticked up 4 points from last month, from 5 percent, while Mrs. Fiorina’s support dropped 4 points, from 11 percent.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were at 3 percent apiece, followed by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 2 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 1 percent. Mr. Kasich lost 3 points of support from September, while Mr. Christie’s support ticked down 2 points.
Mr. Carson was the most frequently named second choice, and also led the way on the percentage of voters who said they could see themselves supporting him; 74 percent said they could imagine supporting Mr. Carson, compared to 20 percent who said they could not.
The retired doctor led among “very conservative” Republicans at 28 percent, while Mr. Trump led among those who described themselves as moderate or liberal, at 31 percent.
Mr. Trump also led Mr. Carson among GOP voters who listen to talk radio, 33 percent to 22 percent, and those who say they’re Tea Party supporters, 28 percent to 22 percent.
The survey of 400 Republican primary voters was taken Oct. 15-18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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