Poll: Donald Trump Leads GOP Field, Carson Falls to Third

Donald Trump is the clear frontrunner in the GOP presidential field as Dr. Ben Carson faded from second to third place, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. Sen. Marco Rubio, ten points back, is Trump’s closest competitor.

The last Quinnipiac poll from October had Carson just one percentage point behind Trump. Now, Carson is tied for third place with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The Quinnipiac results rank the GOP candidates as follows:

1. Donald Trump – 27 percent
2. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) – 17 percent
3. Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) – 16 percent
4. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush – 5 percent

All other GOP candidates ranked under three percent.

On the Democrat side, Hillary Clinton is leading Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) by a 2 to 1 margin for the Democrat nomination.

Clinton improved her lead from last month’s poll, which had her at 53 percent and Sanders at 35 percent. The new poll has Clinton up to 60 percent, while Sanders remained at 35 percent. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley received two percent in the Quinnipiac poll.

CNN reports that “the poll also shows that general election voters more broadly have shifted their support from the Republican candidates toward Clinton and Sanders as well.”

Clinton beats Trump in a head-to-head competition, 47%-41%. She beats Rubio 45%-44%, Cruz 47%-42% and Carson 46%-43%.

Sanders does as well or better in head-to-head match-ups with Republicans, leading Trump 49%-41%, Rubio 44%-43%, Cruz 49%-39% and Carson 47%-41%.

Clinton still has an issue with her trustworthiness numbers, as 60 percent of those surveyed said they found her untrustworthy. However, the GOP frontrunner, Trump, is just behind Clinton with 59 percent finding him untrustworthy.

The poll surveyed 1,453 voters from November 23 to November 30 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent. Out of the 1,453 voters, 672 were Republicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percent and 573 participants were Democrats with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.