With lots of choices for Republicans in New Hampshire, a new poll shows there is no clear favorite for president at this early stage.
Jeb Bush leads the field with 15% support of likely GOP voters in the WMUR Granite State poll. He’s followed closely by Marco Rubio (12%), Scott Walker (11%) and Rand Paul (10%) in the survey conducted about a week after 18 declared and potential Republican presidential candidates converged on New Hampshire for the First in the Nation GOP Leadership Summit.
Since the findings are within the poll’s error margin, that means the top four Republican candidates are in a dead heat. The New Hampshire primary is scheduled for Feb. 9.
“Bush, Rubio, Walker and Paul seem to be separating themselves slightly from the rest of the field, but this is likely due to press attention rather than any real campaign work,” said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the poll.
Rounding out the field: Ted Cruz (6%); Donald Trump (5%); Ben Carson, Rick Perry and Carly Fiorina (4% each); Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee (3% each); Bobby Jindal, George Pataki and Rick Santorum (2% each); and John Kasich and Lindsey Graham (1% each).
Rubio is the most popular candidate with 60% of likely GOP voters saying they have a favorable view of the Florida senator. At least 50% said the same about Walker, the Wisconsin governor, and Paul, the Kentucky governor. The poll shows a sign of concern for Christie, who was at 9% support in the WMUR Granite State poll conducted in February.
The survey of 293 likely GOP primary voters was taken April 24-May 3 and has an error margin of 5.7 percentage points.
