Story highlights
Ben Carson has unseated Donald Trump in the latest national poll
Carson is winning the most support from women and evangelicals
For the first time in months, a national poll shows Donald Trump is not leading the Republican 2016 primary race, and instead has Ben Carson in first place.
Carson won the support of 26% of Republican primary voters, compared to 22% who are backing Trump, according to CBS News/New York Times. Though within the poll’s margin of error, it marks the first time since the billionaire businessman’s dominant rise over the summer where he has been bumped from the top spot nationally.
The new numbers also represent a reversal from the last CBS/New York Times poll, taken more than a month ago, which saw Trump leading Carson 27%-23%.
Carson and Trump have been running consistently neck-and-neck since the start of September – with other candidates struggling to keep pace.
The switch in the lead comes as Carson has taken a clear lead in the Iowa race, beating Trump in some polls by double-digits. Trump told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday morning “I don’t get it.”
CBS/New York Times pollsters found Carson outpacing Trump among women and evangelicals and running even with him among men. Trump performed better with moderate Republicans and voters without college degrees.
No other candidate cracked double-digit support in the latest poll. Marco Rubio won 8% support, Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina tied for fourth place with 7 percent and Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and John Kasich each got 4%.
The poll does carry an important caveat, however: 70% of respondents said they had not settled on a choice yet. Trump’s supporters, however, are more locked in with their support.
The most recent CBS/New York Times poll surveyed 575 Republican primary voters and carries a 6-percentage-point margin of error.
