Quinnipiac Poll: Donald Trump Holds Lead Among GOP Candidates

Yes, the state of the American electorate is confused. He is beating his opponents by a wide margin despite multiple controversial statements made by presidential candidate over the last few weeks. The problem is not just that Trump tarred all Mexican immigrants, but that 70 percent of Republican voters say they agree with him. Trump is likely also stealing support from the still-prominent Scott Walker.

The data, from a Quinnipiac University national poll released early this morning, only gets stranger.

Though poll respondents said the most important quality in a candidate is that they be honest and trustworthy, frontrunners Trump and Clinton fare the worst by that measure, at least among general-election voters.

He expects Trump’s numbers to fall as the race intensifies and scrutiny of his candidacy increases.

Trump is running better among men (24 percent) than among women (15 percent). “How can you become a general election front-runner if most voters don’t trust you?” Fourth place has a four-way tie going between pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and Sen. Marco Rubio, two Sunshine State favorite sons.

Jeb Bush is next on the list and slots in the third position after Walker with only 10 percent of the votes. The survey included 710 Republicans, resulting in a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percentage points. Candidates outside the top ten in an average of five national polls will not qualify for the first GOP primary debate sponsored by Fox News on August. 6.

Trump has a commanding lead over Bush in some of the key TV markets in the state, including Orlando and Tampa, but he has a smaller lead in Miami, Fort Myers, Pensacola and Jacksonville. Clinton also clings to a statistically insignificant lead over Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, 44-43 percent.

“The good news for Secretary Hillary Clinton is that she is over 50 percent among Democrats and has a double-digit lead over Trump”, Malloy said. Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet said whether he will run, gets 13% support from Democratic primary voters.

The rest of the field saw Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry getting 2 percent each.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is losing support in Democrat polls.

Trump loses to Clinton 36 percent to 48 percent. Bernie Sanders of Vermont leads him 45 – 37 percent.

Reuters/Ipsos polling also shows that should Trump mount an independent bid next year and run in a three-way race, he will likely drain support from the Republican nominee and allow the Democrat to cruise to victory. The poll put a race between Clinton and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 42 percent Bush, 41 percent Clinton.