A new poll from Monmouth University finds Donald Trump dominating the field in New Hampshire, thumping Jeb Bush, his nearest competitor, by a 2-1 margin. Trump has 24 percent support of Republican primary voters, while Jeb Bush has just 12 percent.
Chris Christie, who has staked his fight for the nomination on New Hampshire, is a distant 8th, with just 4 percent.
Trump polls best against primary voters that describe themselves as “very conservative” or aligned with the tea party movement. Among these voters, he leads his nearest rival, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by a 3-1 margin.
The Trump phenomenon seems to be galvanizing conservative voters and uniting them behind his candidacy, at the expense of other conservative candidates. With the exception of Bush, all other competitors to Trump are polling in the single digits.
If Trump were not in the race, most of his supporters would possibly switch to Christie, Walker or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. At this time, Trump’s campaign is uniting conservative voters against Bush, who polls best among liberal and moderate Republicans.
“The controversy over comments about John McCain’s war service do not appear to have slowed the Trump steamroller,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Rather than hurting him, the recent controversy over Trump’s remarks, are helping his campaign suck all the oxygen out of the room for other candidates.