Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has cracked 30 percent support in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination and is ahead of his closest rival, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, by double digits, said a CNN/ORC poll released Thursday.
Mr. Trump has 32 percent support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents — up 8 points from August — followed by Mr. Carson at 19 percent, the poll said. Mr. Carson’s support increased 10 points since August.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was at 9 percent — a 4-point drop from last month — followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 7 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 5 percent apiece.
Most Republican voters — 51 percent — said they think Mr. Trump is most likely to win the party’s nomination, more than twice the percentage for Mr. Bush, who was second on that question.
Mr. Trump boosted his support among women from 20 percent in August to 33 percent now, and increased backing from tea party supporters from 27 percent to 41 percent. His support from college graduates increased from 16 percent in August to 28 percent.
Mr. Carson, meanwhile, increased support from Republicans by 13 points and support from conservatives by 11 points. Thirty-two percent of white evangelicals said they back Mr. Trump, compared to 28 percent for Mr. Carson.
The national survey of 1,012 adults was taken Sept. 4-8 and includes 474 self-identified Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. There is a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 points for the Republican subgroup.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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