Donald Trump up 10 points on Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina: poll

Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has a double-digit lead over his nearest 2016 GOP rivals, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, said a poll released Wednesday.

Mr. Trump was the choice of 23 percent of GOP primary voters, followed by Mr. Carson and Ms. Fiorina at 13 percent each, according to the Suffolk University/USA TODAY national poll.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was next at 9 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 8 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 6 percent. No other candidate was above 3 percent, and 18 percent were undecided.

Though Mr. Trump was the top choice among Republicans, his overall favorability rating of 27 percent was the worst among the candidates, with 61 percent of voters saying they have an unfavorable view of him.

“Trump is the Jekyll and Hyde candidate — strong when among conservative voters but viewed much differently once Democrats and independents are in the mix,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston.

Mr. Carson had a positive 40 percent/32 percent favorable/unfavorable split, and Ms. Fiorina had a positive 38 percent/33 percent split.

Mr. Rubio had a positive 37 percent/34 percent split, while Mr. Bush had a negative 32 percent/50 percent split.

When asked what one word best describes Mr. Trump, the top choices among respondents were:

• “Idiot/Jerk/Stupid/Dumb” — 10 percent;

• “Arrogant” and “Crazy/Nuts” — 6 percent each;

• “Buffoon/Clown/Comical/Joke” — 5 percent;

• “Unfavorable/Dislike him” — 4 percent;

• “Egotistical/Narcissist/Selfish” — 4 percent;

• “Bombastic/Showoff/Pompous” — 4 percent;

• “Outspoken/Frank/Opinionated” — 3 percent;

• “Entertaining/Entertainer” — 3 percent;

• “Businessman/Successful” — 3 percent;

• “Honest/Trustworthy/Truthful” — 3 percent;

• “Cunning/Untrustworthy/Dishonest” — 3 percent;

• “Blowhard/Boisterous” — 3 percent;

• “Favorable/Like him” — 3 percent.

For Ms. Fiorina, the top responses were:

• “Smart/Intelligent/Knowledgeable” — 10 percent;

• “Dishonest/Liar/Untrustworthy” — 6 percent;

• “Strong/Tough” — 5 percent;

• “Favorable/Okay/Like” — 5 percent;

• “Idiot/Evil/Joke/Cold” — 4 percent;

• “Unfavorable/Dislike” — 3 percent;

• “Businesswoman/HP/CEO/Professional” — 3 percent;

• “Determined/Enthusiastic/Go-getter” — 3 percent.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was taken Sept. 24-28, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. For the subset of 380 GOP primary voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 5.03 percentage points.