Donald Trump has set himself apart from the crowded Republican presidential field by refusing to back off from his derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants – and a new poll shows that strategy could be working with voters.
Trump leads the GOP pack in this week’s Economist/YouGov poll, with 15 percent of registered Republican voters calling the billionaire-reality TV star their first-choice candidate for 2016. Another 12 percent said Trump was their second choice for the Republican nomination.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) polled 4 points behind Trump with 11 percent each. Wis. Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied in third place, each with 9 percent.
But despite Trump’s apparent lift among Republican voters, only 7 percent of respondents said they believe it’s likely Trump will be the party’s eventual nominee, while 29 percent said they expected Bush to take the nomination.
YouGov’s polling uses a pre-selected pool of registered voters, with respondents selected at random from that pool.
