Washington

Poll: Donald Trump Hits New High Among GOP Voters

Trump bashed Clinton on trade. (Rob Kunzig/Morning Consult)

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.

Opposition4-Oct4-Oct
AL2525
AK2828
AZ2121
AR2424
CA1515
CO1717
CT1010
DC1616
DE1010
FL1717
GA2222
HI1515
ID2828
IL1717
IN2222
IA1919
KS2121
KY2121
LA2222
ME1515
MD1414
MA1010
MI1919
MN1717
MS2323
MO2222
MT2323
NE2121
NV1919
NH1818
NJ1111
NM2020
NY1212
NC1919
ND2323
OH2222
OK2626
OR1515
PA1919
RI1313
SC1818
SD2323
TN2424
TX2222
UT1919
VT88
VA1616
WA1313
WV2121
WI1515
WY3333

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.

Unwilling8-Nov8-Nov
AL2525
AK2424
AZ2121
AR2727
CA1515
CO1818
CT1111
DC1818
DE99
FL1818
GA2222
HI1313
ID2929
IL1818
IN2323
IA2121
KS2020
KY2222
LA2222
ME1414
MD1515
MA99
MI2121
MN1616
MS2424
MO2424
MT2323
NE2121
NV1818
NH1818
NJ1111
NM2424
NY1212
NC2020
ND2626
OH2323
OK2929
OR1818
PA1919
RI1414
SC2020
SD2727
TN2525
TX2323
UT1717
VT1414
VA1717
WA1414
WV2323
WI1717
WY3535

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.

Morning Consult