Donald Trump Still Leading GOP Field in Post-Debate Polls
— -- Donald Trump has maintained his lead in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, gained Republican voters’ trust and won support among both men and women, according to a national survey released this morning, the second since the first GOP debate earlier this month.
The CNN/ORC poll showed Trump with 24 percent support among Republican registered voters -- up 6 percentage points from the last CNN/ORC poll in late July and nearly twice as much as those who backed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who came in second with 13 percent.
The results follow a similarly strong showing for Trump in a poll released by Fox News on Sunday, the first national poll released after the GOP debate, which showed support for Trump among Republicans at 25 percent. That survey, though, put retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in second place, with 12 percent; today’s poll showed Carson in third with 9 percent.
In the poll released today, Trump also led the field among both Republican men and Republican women -- despite controversy over comments he has made about women. Sixty percent of Republican women voters and 57 percent of their male counterparts had a positive impression of the billionaire presidential candidate, according to the survey.
Forty-five percent said they trusted Trump more than his GOP competitors on the economy; 44 percent said they trusted him most on illegal immigration; and 32 percent trusted him most on ISIS -- all large jumps for Trump since a June survey.
Rounding out the top 10 in today’s poll were Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both with 8 percent support; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul with 6 percent; businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, all with 5 percent; and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 4 percent.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who made it into the first GOP debate two weeks ago and is trying to hang onto the top 10, came in 11th place at 3 percent. That position would bump Christie from the next debate stage in mid-September, and add businesswoman Carly Fiorina. It is again limited to the top 10 candidates.
The poll was conducted from August 13 to 16, a week after the Aug. 6 Republican debate. The margin of error among Republican voters was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, and among the full sample it was 3 percentage points.
