As the last days of June wane, polls are showing Donald Trump gaining on leader Jeb Bush in the hunt for the 2016 Republican nomination in New Hampshire.
Jeb once had a strong lead in New Hampshire, but now polls are showing that his lead has dwindled to a narrow margin as the GOP filed continues to expand.
Despite that he only jumped into the race a week ago, Donald Trump is now at 11 percent in the latest poll of New Hampshire Republicans. Jeb still leads but only at 16 percent. Next closest to The Donald is Rand Paul at 9 percent. He is followed by Scott Walker at 8 percent, Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio tied at 6 percent, and Ben Carson and Chris Christie tied at 5 percent.
As the field continues to grow— Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal jumped in only a few days ago—respondents in New Hampshire don’t seem completely sold on anyone yet.
Fully 75 percent say they are not settled on a candidate, and 21 percent wouldn’t even make a choice for the poll.
Trump takes top spots in several categories in the New Hampshire poll. Respondents said they trusted him more on economic issues–29 percent for Trump and only 13 percent for Bush. Trump also won high marks as the candidate who would best handle international trade–27 percent for Trump and 14 percent for Bush.
Trump also edged Bush on who would be the best leader–17 percent to Bush’s 15 percent.
Where Trump loses most is in favorability. More still view him unfavorably than favorably–38 percent positive to 48 percent negative.
Other candidates who have seen a rise in New Hampshire is Carly Fiorina, whose favorability ratings have gone up 10 points to 39 percent since May.
Chris Christie and Lindsey Graham have lost ground in favorability, but so has the rest of the field.
This is the second poll to find Trump quickly gaining on Bush. A Fox News poll released Wednesday also found Trump gaining on the former Governor of Florida.
In the Fox poll, Trump soared to 11 percent among the crowded field. Bush was only ahead by a few points with his 15 percent lead.
The Fox poll gave Dr. Ben Carson third place with 10 percent. As to the rest of the field, Rand Paul and Scott Walker tied at 9 percent, Marco Rubio came in at 8 percent, Mike Huckabee hit 6 percent, Ted Cruz was at 4 percent, and Carly Fiorina and Rick Santorum tied at 3 percent.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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