GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has retained his front-runner status in the early presidential state of New Hampshire with Ohio Gov. John Kasich picking up six points of support to move into second place alone, according to a new poll.
Mr. Trump had 27 percent support in the survey on New Hampshire from American Research Group, with Mr. Kasich at 20 percent.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was well back in third place at 10 percent, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 9 percent each and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 8 percent.
The survey was conducted from Jan. 15-18. An ARG survey conducted Jan. 7-10 had Mr. Trump in first at 25 percent, with Mr. Kasich and Mr. Rubio tied for second at 14 percent apiece, Mr. Christie at 10 percent, Mr. Cruz at 9 percent, and Mr. Bush at 8 percent.
In the new survey, Mr. Trump had a 30 percent to 16 percent lead over Mr. Kasich among likely GOP primary voters between the ages of 18 and 49, and a 25 percent to 23 percent lead over Mr. Kasich among voters ages 50 or older.
There was also somewhat of a gender gap. Male voters supported Mr. Trump over Mr. Kasich by a 29 percent to 19 percent margin, while female voters supported Mr. Trump over Mr. Kasich by a 24 percent to 22 percent margin.
Mr. Kasich, who is banking on a strong performance in the Granite State, is in second place behind Mr. Trump in the latest RealClearPolitics average on New Hampshire.
On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont had a 6-point lead in the state over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 49 percent to 43 percent, with former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at 3 percent.
Both ARG surveys had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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