Real estate mogul Donald Trump may be leading the national Quinnipiac University poll of Republican presidential candidates released Thursday, but establishment as well as outsider candidates have gained on him.
Trump led the still-crowded primary field at 25 percent in the poll.
Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson polled at 17 percent, former technology executive Carly Fiorina polled at 12 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hit 10 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was the final candidate to pull away from the pack at 9 percent.
The poll was a three-point decline for Trump’s support since a Quinnipiac poll taken in August. Carson saw a 5-point jump in support while Fiorina’s support increased by 7 points.
In addition, 29 percent of Republican voters surveyed said they “would definitely not support” the celebrity tycoon.
Sixty-six percent of everyone surveyed, including Democrats and independents, said Trump did not have the “right kind of experience to be President.” That number remained high among Republican voters: 45 percent.
Thirty-nine percent of voters overall said they thought Fiorina didn’t have the right experience while 41 percent said the same of Carson. Among Republicans, those numbers were 26 percent for Fiorina and 17 percent for Carson.
Trump also lost in head-to-head match-ups against Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as well as Vice President Joe Biden, who has not declared a run. The closest margin was against Clinton; she beat Trump by 2 points.
The poll was conducted among 1,574 registered voters nationally from Sept. 17 to 21 by live calls to landlines and cellphones, resulting in a margin of error of 2.5 points. Quinnipiac surveyed 737 Republicans (margin of error 3.6 points) and 587 Democrats (margin of error 4 points).
