Real estate mogul Donald Trump has retained his grip on the No. 1 spot in the 2016 GOP field, according to a poll released Thursday that shows him 7 points clear of his nearest competitor, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
Mr. Trump was at 26 percent in the poll from the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling, followed by Mr. Carson at 19 percent. A PPP poll released in early October had Mr. Trump at 27 percent and Mr. Carson at 17 percent.
In the poll released Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was next at 14 percent, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 13 percent.
Well back of the top four was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 5 percent, followed by former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 4 percent each, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 3 percent each, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 2 percent.
“It’s really remarkable how static this year’s race has become compared to the 2012 Republican contest,” said Dean Debnam, president of PPP. “Only two candidates have seen their support shift more than 2 points over the last six weeks, and Trump and Carson have been the clear top two for almost 3 months now. It’s a lot less topsy turvy this time around.”
Mr. Cruz picked up 7 points of support since early October, when he was at 7 percent. And Mr. Bush’s support fell by 5 points, from 10 percent in October.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had a big lead, pulling in 59 percent support compared to 26 percent for Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and 7 percent for former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
The survey was taken from Nov. 16-17 — after the most recent Democratic debate and after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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