Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) surged into second place in a New Hampshire poll released Wednesday by the Emerson College Polling Society, although real-estate billionaire Donald Trump retained a double-digit lead in Granite State.
The poll showed support for Trump at 35 percent of likely Republican voters, a 17-point lead over Bush, who came second with 18 percent. The only other candidate with a double-digit showing was Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R). Although this is Emerson’s first poll of New Hampshire voters in the 2016 cycle, Trump’s standing is consistent with virtually all other polling of the state.
The ECPS poll shows an unusually strong result for Bush, who has generally been stuck in the middle of the pack in low single-digits. No other New Hampshire polls have shown Bush polling in second place. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Kasich have all held this position in various polls.
The ECPS poll was conducted from Jan. 25-26 and interviewed 373 likely Republican voters by automated phone survey, with a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
This post has been updated.
