Poll: Jeb, Trump in virtual tie

by Mark Hensch - 07/11/15 11:08 AM ET

GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Donald Trump are locked in a virtual tie for the 2016 Republican nomination, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Saturday.

It found that 16.1 percent of self-identified Republicans back Bush, the former governor of Florida.

Trump, a New York business mogul, chases Bush’s lead with 15.8 percent support.

{mosads}New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in third 9.5 percent of possible voters’ backing.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is next at 8.1 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 7.2 percent.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – widely expected to enter the 2016 field Monday – earned 5.8 percent.

Republican voters’ response changed dramatically when they offered only three contenders from the party’s crowded 2016 presidential field.

Bush takes a commanding lead when matched against only Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The former Florida governor nabs 42 percent in that scenario. Trump, meanwhile, gets 28.4 percent and Rubio 20 percent.

Saturday’s new sampling discovered that the 2016 Democratic nominating contest is much less competitive.

Former secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the party’s frontrunner with 48.3 percent of self-identified Democrats backing her.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is her closest competitor, trailing her at 22.9 percent nationwide.

Vice President Joe Biden – who has not publicly declared his 2016 intentions – then grabs 10.7 percent support.

Saturday’s survey sampled 404 self-identified Republicans age 18 or over between Monday and Friday. It has a credibility interval of 5.7 percent.

It also polled 504 self-identified Democrats from the same age demographic during the same window of time. That portion has a credibility interval of 5.1 percent.

Bush and Trump have sparred in recent weeks over border security and illegal immigration.

Trump argued Wednesday that Bush’s stance on the issue is inspired by his wife Columba Bush, who was born in Mexico.

“If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico,” Trump told host Anderson Cooper on CNN’s “AC360.”

“So, if he loves his wife and she is from Mexico, I think it probably has an influence on him.”

Bush has countered that Trump’s sharp criticism of Hispanic immigrants and Mexico is inflammatory and ignorant.

“Trump is wrong on this,” he said after two Independence Day parades on July 4 in New Hampshire.

“I don’t think he represents the Republican Party, and his views are way outside the mainstream of what Republicans think,” he added before calling Trump’s immigration rhetoric “extraordinarily ugly.”

Tags Donald Trump Jeb Bush