Trump Widens Lead In Latest Poll Out Of New Hampshire

Those surging include Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who have ridden a wave of support following the last debate in November to climb into second and third place.

As recently as October, Carson was leading in the Monmouth poll, with the support of 32 percent of caucus-goers.

The poll suggests Trump may be able to overtake Cruz, however, if he is able to draw new Republican supporters to the typically low-turnout caucuses. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is polling at 6 percent in Iowa, called Trump’s proposal Monday “unhinged”.

Back in the summer, when most Republican presidential candidates were occupied by the “invisible primary” competition for the support of major party actors, Trump’s ability to dominate the media was relatively easy: Most candidates were not focused on the public side of the campaign at that point.

Carson’s fade is happening nearly as quickly as his rise.

More good news for Christie: Just 6 percent said they would not vote for him under any circumstances compared with 26 percent who said the same about Trump and 11 percent who chose Bush.

Cruz responded to one reporter when asked if he thought that Donald Trump would target him now that he had pulled into the lead in Iowa. That doesn’t seem a likely scenario.

By late afternoon, CNN was out with a poll proclaiming the real-estate mogul as the clear front-runner, snaring 33 percent of the vote to Cruz’s 20 percent.

Rubio was the other big mover in the new Monmouth poll.

The apparent contradiction reflects the difficulty Republicans are having navigating the rhetoric of GOP presidential contender Donald Trump, who roiled the race again Monday by calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.

The December poll found that 59 percent believe Trump is winning New Hampshire’s primary. Sub-samples had larger margins of error.

The CNN/ORC poll which has Trump still on top was taken over a longer period of time – 11/28 through 12/6. That survey found Cruz garnering 24% support among Republican voters in the state to Trump’s 19%. There’s a growing consensus among Iowa’s conservatives that they must elect someone this time around who can get past the early voting states as Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum struggled to do. He’s benefitted from Congressman Steve King’s endorsement, and is expected to secure the backing of another influential Iowa conservative in the days to come.

Cruz has been rising in the polls and getting closer to the GOP front-runner. About 45 percent said he could best handle illegal immigration, and 42 percent said the same for government spending. Twenty-six percent in the CNN poll said they had definitely decided.