Second Place Remains Wide Open in New Hampshire Polls, with Donald Trump in First

Associated Press

by JORDAN SCHACHTEL7 Feb 2016117

Five different polls have been published Sunday indicating that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is the heavy favorite to win Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

However, full-scale battle for second place has emerged, with establishment candidatesSen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeb Bush, and Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) consistently polling in the double-digits, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), an anti-establishment conservative, also polling favorably.

Meanwhile, support in the Granite State for outsider candidates Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson continue to fall, as the two candidates continue to poll in the single digits, along with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

The poll results do not reflect the outcome of Saturday night’s ABC News debate, as the surveys were gathered beforehand.

In the five polls, Trump averaged 32 percent. Kasich averaged 12 percent, Rubio averaged 15 percent, Bush averaged 10 percent, Christie averaged 5 percent, Fiorina averages 3.5 percent, and Carson averaged 2.5 percent.

Trump leads all the polls. But Rubio gets three second-places and two third-place scores, including tied scores. Kasich gets two second-place finishes, Bush gets one third-place score.

Below is a summary of where the Republican candidates placed in the five polls released Sunday, ranked by their finish in the following polls in order:Monmouth, CNN/WMUR, Boston Herald/FPU, Umass/7News, ARG.

Donald Trump: 1(+16); 1(+17); 1(+15); 1(+22); 1(+14)

Sen. Marco Rubio: T3; 2; 3; 2; T2

Sen. Ted Cruz: 4; 3; 2; 3; 5

Gov. John Kasich: 2; 4; 4; 5; T2

Jeb Bush: T3; 5; 5; 4; T4

Gov. Chris Christie: 6; 7; 6; T6; 6

Carly Fiorina: 7; 6; 7; 7; 7

Dr. Ben Carson: 8; 8; 8; 8; 8

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) maintains his lead in New Hampshire. However, a Boston Herald/FPU poll among likely voters said his lead is down to only 7 percentage points. A loss in New Hampshire would be a devastating blow to the Vermont Senator, who has, since early January, been a favorite to win the state’s delegates.

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