Poll: Carson tops list of potential running mates for Trump ticket

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/01/16 2:39 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson tops the list of potential running mates for Donald Trump if the businessman wins the GOP presidential nomination, according to a new poll.

Carson is the choice of 11 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning independent voters, a Morning Consult poll released Monday found.

{mosads}Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, the candidates right behind Trump in the GOP race, are tied for second, with 9 percent each.

John Kasich, also a Republican presidential candidate, follows with 8 percent, tied with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who endorsed Trump last week after dropping out of the GOP race in February.

Carson’s business manager, Armstrong Williams, told The Hill on Tuesday that Carson wouldn’t be dropping out of the GOP race, despite not having any potential state wins in sight.

The soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon himself indicated Tuesday morning that he’s been asked by Republican Party officials to suspend his campaign.

Cruz, Rubio and a slew of pundits have called on Carson to drop out of the race amid an effort to coalesce around a single alternative to Trump.

Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed over the weekend didn’t list a hypothetical VP for Trump. The survey of 2,002 registered voters was conducted Feb. 26-27 with a margin of error of 2 points.

Tags 2016 GOP primary Donald Trump Marco Rubio Super Tuesday Ted Cruz VP