Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump leads his closest 2016 GOP rival, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, by 11 points in a survey released Monday that also showed support for Mr. Carson jump 12 points in a little more than a month.
Mr. Trump had the support of 28 percent of likely GOP primary voters in the Granite State, according to the Monmouth University poll. Mr. Trump was followed by Mr. Carson at 17 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 11 percent.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was at 8 percent and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were tied at 7 percent each. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida were tied at 4 percent apiece.
In addition to Mr. Carson’s rise compared to a poll taken in late July, support for Mr. Cruz ticked up 5 points, and support for Mr. Trump, Mr. Kasich, and Mrs. Fiorina went up by 4 points apiece. Support for Mr. Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was tied with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 2 percent, went down 5 points each.
“Once again, the three candidates who have never held political office combine for a majority of support in a GOP primary poll,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey. “This race has turned into the ’Festivus’ campaign. It appears that GOP voters are using the 2016 nomination contest to air their grievances with party leadership.”
More than two-thirds of GOP voters (68 percent) in New Hampshire said they think the country needs someone who comes from outside government who can bring a fresh approach to Washington, compared to 23 percent who said they think the country needs someone with government experience who knows how to get things done.
Fifty-five percent said the national Republican party is doing a bad job representing the concerns of voters like them, compared to 33 percent who say the national party is doing a good job on that front. And about two-thirds said they are either very (33 percent) or somewhat (33 percent) dissatisfied with Republican leaders in Congress.
“Republican voters are fed up and as a result appear to be rejecting the GOP’s game plan for this nomination contest,” Mr. Murray said. “As with the classic episode of ’Seinfeld,’ the Festivus nature of this campaign won’t be over unless the leader — in this case, Trump — is taken down. Rick Perry was the first challenger who failed in the ’feats of strength’ against Trump.”
Mr. Carson was the best-liked candidate in the field, with a 73 percent/10 percent favorable/unfavorable split, up from a 45 percent/15 percent split in July. Mr. Carson was also the most popular second choice, at 16 percent.
Mr. Trump had a positive 54 percent favorable/36 percent unfavorable split, up from a 47 percent/44 percent split in July.
The survey of 415 likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire was taken Sept. 10-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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