Poll: Donald Trump Hits New High Among GOP Voters

As front-runner Donald Trump continues his march toward the Republican nomination for president, he is more popular than ever among GOP voters, according to a new Morning Consult survey.

Fifty-six percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents polled from April 29 through May 2 said they would vote for Trump if the election were held today. That’s an 8-point increase from our previous poll, taken last week.

And while Trump is up 8 points, the news gets worse for his main competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz. Only 20 percent of voters are still backing the Texas Republican for the nomination, which is down 7 points from last week. Cruz’s favorability among Republican voters was down 4 points (54 percent to 50 percent) and down 2 points among independents (27 percent to 25 percent). And in a week in which he announced former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his would-be running mate on a Republican ticket, his favorability among Republican women also fell 7 points, from 54 percent to 47 percent.

The third candidate in the GOP race, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, was the first choice for 13 percent of respondents, up 1 point from our previous poll.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s support is back on an upward trajectory. Fifty-one percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents support the former Secretary of State and first lady. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continues to trend down: he is the first choice for 38 percent of respondents in our new poll.

Since mid-April, Clinton’s support is up 5 points, while the percentage of voters supporting Sanders has waned by the same amount.

The Morning Consult survey polled 1,976 registered voters from April 29-May 2, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. See the toplines and crosstabs.