Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has edged into second place in New Hampshire, though he still lags enormously behind billionaire Donald Trump, according to a University of Massachusetts-Lowell daily tracking poll, Thursday.
The UMass-Lowell tracking poll, which releases daily results collating in-person interviews from the preceding three days, showed support for Rubio at 15 percent. This is part of a consistent upward trend in Rubio’s numbers since tracking began on Monday, when his support stood at 8 percent. This result also shows a surge in support for Rubio since his strong finish in Iowa.
By contrast, the rest of the race has remained stable. Trump still leads in New Hampshire at 36 percent of support and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stood right on Rubio’s heels at 14 percent. These results indicate a very slight decrease for Trump, who had registered 38 percent of support between Monday and Wednesday, and stagnation for Cruz, who has stood at 14 percent every day since Tuesday.
The UMass-Lowell tracking poll, sponsored by local news station WHDH, was carried out from February 1-3 by live telephone interviews. Pollsters interviewed 487 likely Republican voters with a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.
This post has been updated.
