|
WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has risen to the top of the latest national poll for his party's 2016 primary race, gaining a slight lead over former front-runner Donald Trump, said the latest CBS News/New York Times poll Tuesday.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, received 26 percent of the support, with Trump trailing closely with 22 percent, said the poll, which was conducted on Oct. 21-25.
Despite the slight lead, it was the first time for Carson to surpass Trump since the Times and CBS News started measuring presidential choices late July.
Support for Carson had quadrupled since August, the poll added.
Currently, Carson was ahead of Trump among women and was tied with Trump among male voters, but his popularity among evangelicals contributed a lot to his surge.
According to the poll, Carson now led Trump by over 20 percent with evangelicals.
However, with the third Republican primary debate coming Wednesday night, the state of the race could change, especially when about 70 percent of Republican primary voters said they could change their minds in the future about who they would support.
There are 15 candidates left in the Republican field compared with the three-member Democratic field. All the rest of the Republican candidates, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, lagged behind in single digit.
