Donald Trump is the clear winner of a new
CNN/ORC poll that places him at the top of the field with 39 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, more than double backing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who netted 18 percent.
Cruz has climbed two points since the
November CNN/ORC poll, and stands at eight points ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, both of whom gathered 10 percent.
By the numbers:
- Trump, 39 percent;
- Cruz, 18 percent;
- Rubio and Carson, 10 percent;
- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 5 percent;
- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul 4 percent;
- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 3 percent;
- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich 2 percent;
- Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina 1 percent;
- Former New York Gov. George Pataki, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, less than 1 percent.
Trump has remained at the top of national polls since July, reports CNN, but the new poll reveals Cruz starting to pull away from the pack.
CNN conducted its poll after the Dec. 15 Las Vegas debate, and Republicans who watched the debate said Trump won, by 33 percent, followed by 28 percent for Cruz, 13 percent for Rubio, and Christie at 6 percent. Only one percent of the debate watchers said Bush won, even though his sparring with Trump got a great deal of attention.
Meanwhile, the poll found six out of 10 Republicans say there are one or two candidates they want to win the nomination, and showed that more than 75 percent of Republicans support one of the top four candidates, with 77 percent saying they would choose either Trump, Cruz, Carson, or Rubio.
Trump's standing came after voters determined he'd be able to handle the issues of illegal immigration, the economy, and ISIS best:
The economy:
- Trump, 57 percent;
- Cruz, 8 percent;
- Rubio, 7 percent;
- Carson, 6 percent;
- Bush at 5 percent;
Illegal immigration:
- Trump, 55 percent;
- Cruz, 15 percent;
- Rubio, 10 percent.
On ISIS:
- Trump, 47 percent;
- Cruz, 21 percent;
- Bush 7 percent;
- Christie 6 percent.
Further, 46 percent of Republicans say the party has its best shot of winning if Trump is nominated, but 50 percent said the party has a better shot if someone else wins.
However, more Republicans, by 62 percent, said Cruz has the experience needed to be president, compared to 57 percent for Trump or 53 percent for Rubio. Two-thirds believe Cruz shares their values, and they would be proud to have him as president. Those numbers compared to 63 percent for Trump on values and 64 percent for Rubio.
The poll was held on Dec. 17-21 with a random sample of 1,018 adults, and carried a margin of error of 3 points. Among the 438 Republican or Republican-leaning independents, the margin of error was 4.5 points.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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