Mitch Perry
Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican presidential field of candidates just days before the first major debate of the political season, leading with 19 percent support in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. He’s followed by Scott Walker at 15 percent, and Jeb Bush third at 14 percent.
All other Republican candidates earn single digit backing. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is favored by 9 percent of primary voters; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul are tied with 6 percent support; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio clocks in at 5 percent; and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are tied with 3 percent apiece. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum each have 1 percent support, and four candidates — former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore — register less than 1 percent support.
The biggest loser among the lower-tiered candidates appears to be Marco Rubio, at least in this poll. Bush’s support has fallen from 22 percent last month to 14 percent now, Walker has seen a decrease of two percentage points, and Rubio’s standing has dropped from 14 percent support in June to just 5 percent support now.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll was conducted July 26-30. The margin of error for 252 interviews among Republican Primary Voters is ±6.17%
