Real estate magnate Donald Trump led the top of a national poll of Republican voters released Wednesday morning while his rival retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who was once battling for first place, fell to third place.
Trump polled at 27 percent, followed by a rising Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 17 percent in the Quinnipiac University Poll. Carson as well as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are tied at 16 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush polled at 5 percent.
Last month, according to Quinnipiac polling, Trump polled at 24 percent and Carson polled at 23 percent. Rubio saw a small gain from the November poll where he earned 14 percent.
Trump and Bush top the list of candidates a Republican voter “would definitely not support” at 26 percent and 21 percent, respectively. There are just over 60 days until the Iowa caucus and eleven months until the general election.
The poll was conducted among 1,453 registered nationwide voters, 672 of whom are Republicans, between Nov. 23 and 30. The margin of error among Republicans was plus or minus 3.8 percent.
