According to the latest poll results released by CNN today, Donald Trump continues to be the clear front runner for the Republican party presidential nomination, having won the party’s trust on most “top issues.”
The survey shows Trump with 24 percent support of registered Republican voters, with his closest competitor, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a distant 11 points behind with 13 percent support.
Bush is followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 9 percent, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker tied at eight percent, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul at six percent, former tech CEO Carly Fiorina and Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich at five percent, with former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee trailing the field with four percent support.
Of the top ten Republican nominees,Trump recorded the biggest gain in the poll, coming in six points better than he did in the first nationwide CNN poll taken in July.
He also rated higher among Republicans, getting 58 percent approval compared to 50 percent in the July survey.
The nationwide poll results echo recent polling in the key early states of New Hampshire and Iowa.
Bush, who was the frontrunner in most CNN polls between Fall 2014 and when Trump threw his hat into the presidential ring in June, has experienced a significant fall in his favorability ratings, with 56 percent of all those polled holding an unfavorable view of him and 42 percent of Republican voters having a negative view of the former Florida Governor – up from 34 percent.
Curiously, while the latest poll shows Trump in front of the overall popularity contest, the majority of Republicans, 58 percent, believe the party would have a better shot at winning the 2016 presidential race with someone other than Trump on the ticket.
On the issues, the latest poll shows that Trump holds 45 percent of the trust of Republican voters on the economy – up 25 points since June, 44 percent on immigration – up 30 points since June – and 32 percent on how to handle the ISIS scourge.
None of the other candidates even came close to polling high on trust worthiness on these issues.
Trump also rates the highest on trust on social issues, taking 19 percent with Bush the closest at 15 percent.
In gender support Trump polled at 27% among Republican men and 20% among women, with Bush following with 17% among women but far behind among men with only 10 percent.
One interesting fact, the poll shows is that in the education divide, Republican voters who do not have college degrees are more likely to vote for Trump, than college graduates – 28 percent non-college graduates versus 16 percent college graduates.
According to the latest poll there are very few other demographic divides in Republican preferences other than Rand Paul polling best with voters under age 50, and Tea Party supporters being more likely to vote for Ted Cruz.
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