Story highlights
A new Fox News poll shows Trump on top
It also shows support for Bush eroding
(CNN) —
A trio of Republican establishment favorites – Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio – are all losing ground in the party’s 2016 presidential field, a new Fox News poll shows.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, continues to dominate the race, earning 25% support nationally, while another outsider, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, is running second at 12%. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, known for locking horns with Republican congressional leaders, is third at 10%.
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
The race to become the next Republican presidential nominee continues as the highest polling candidates debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, August 6. From left, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and John Kasich.
PHOTO:
Andrew Harnik/AP
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has served as New Jersey's governor since 2010 and was U.S. Attorney for the state from 2002-10. He started in politics as a volunteer, first on Republican Tom Kean's gubernatorial campaign in 1977 and later on George H.W. Bush's 1992 re-election campaign.
Christie Rand got into a yelling match with Rand Paul over NSA record collection (Christie is for, Paul is against).
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Scott Olson/Getty Images
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
The 43-year-old freshman senator of Florida Marco Rubio is the youngest contender in the race for the presidency. Rubio entered the political realm as an intern to U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida in 1991, while he was attending law school.
On immigration, he said that the evidence is clear the majority of the people coming across border are not from Mexico.
PHOTO:
John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, rose to national prominence in 2013 after harshly critiquing the Affordable Care Act at the National Prayer Breakfast, when he warned the U.S. is traveling down the same path as ancient Rome.
Carson, the only African-American onstage, said he was once asked by a reporter why he doesn't talk more about race. "I said it's because I'm a neurosurgeon," he said. When you operate on someone's brain, he added, "the skin doesn't make them who they are." He was operating on the part that makes them who they are, not their skin, he said. The response earned him applause.
PHOTO:
John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is one of the most recognizable and polarizing governors in the country. In 2012, Walker became the only U.S. governor in history to win a recall election, following his effort to limit collective bargaining power for public sector employees.
When asked by moderator Megyn Kelly, "Would you really let a mother die rather than have an abortion?" Walker replied, "I'm pro-life, I've always been pro-life, and I've got a position consistent with, I think, many Americans out there."
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
This is real estate mogul Donald Trump's first debate as a Republican presidential candidate. Trump has been a major political donor since the early 1990s, contributing to both Democratic and Republican campaigns.
"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be even talking about illegal immigration, Chris," Trump said to Fox News host Chris Wallace. "This was not a subject that was on anyone's mind until I brought it up at my announcement."
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is son to former president George H.W. Bush and brother to former president George W. Bush. He has been trailing in second place behind Trump in the polls. Bush has been involved in politics since the early 1980s.
Bush addressed the immigration issue by stressing that he did not support "amnesty." "We need to be much more strategic on how we deal with border enforcement, border security," Bush said. "We need to eliminate the sanctuary cities in this country. It is ridiculous and tragic that people are dying because of the fact that local governments are not following the law."
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Mike Huckabee is a former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist minister. He hosted a TV show, "Huckabee," which ran on Fox News from 2008-2015.
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, after he rallied conservative and tea party support in Texas, and has since been one of the Senate's most vocal critics of Obamacare. He was the first Republican candidate to announce a campaign for the presidency.
"A majority of the candidates on this stage have supported amnesty.," said Cruz. "I have never supported amnesty."
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has been in office since 2011. Paul also worked on the congressional and presidential campaigns for his father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul. Rand Paul gained national attention by riding the 2010 tea party wave to become the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky following a tough battle in the GOP primary.
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Andrew Harnik/ap
Photos: The main Republican presidential debate
Ohio Gov. John Kasich was elected to the U.S. House in 1982 and represented Ohio until he unsuccesfully ran for president in 2000. After a nine-year stint in the private sector, Kasich ran a successful campaign for governor of Ohio in 2010, when he defeated Democratic incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland. He was re-elected by a wide margin in 2014.
"Trump's hitting a nerve in this country," Kasich said. "For people that want to just tune him out, they're making a mistake."
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Bush, the former Florida governor, has dropped to 9% – fourth place, down from 15% and second place in a Fox News poll conducted earlier this month, before the first GOP presidential debate.
RELATED: Trump on immigration: ‘They have to go’
Walker, the Wisconsin governor, meanwhile, is tied for fifth, at 6% – down from 9% earlier this month. And Rubio, the senator from Florida, is now at 4% – in ninth place, and down from 5%.
The results, with outsiders at the front of the field and establishment favorites struggling to gain traction, reflect a shift among likely Republican primary voters toward candidates who challenge the political hierarchy.
Photos: The debate before the debate
The race to become the next Republican presidential nominee kicked off with the seven lowest-polling candidates taking the stage in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, August 6. From left: Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina and George Pataki.
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John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The debate before the debate
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore speaks during a predebate forum. Gilmore previously chaired a national advisory panel to assess U.S. capabilities to respond to terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.
PHOTO:
John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The debate before the debate
Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham is a South Carolina senator and previously served in the Air Force.
PHOTO:
John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The debate before the debate
Republican presidential hopeful Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks during the debate. Jindal is the country's first Indian-American governor.
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The debate before the debate
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has previously said that gun-free zones are "a bad idea" and said he believes people should be able to take their firearms to the movies.
PHOTO:
John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The debate before the debate
Rick Santorum answers a question during the debate. Santorum has said in the past that he believes Planned Parenthood is dehumanizing unborn children.
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Scott Olson/Getty Images
Photos: The debate before the debate
Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, said during the debate,"Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lied about emails, she is still defending Planned Parenthood, and she is still her party's front-runner." After the debate, Fiorina was the top-searched candidate on Google in more states than any of the other six early debate candidates.
PHOTO:
John Minchillo/AP
Photos: The debate before the debate
George Pataki answers a question during the presidential forum. Pataki has previously laid out what he calls are "practical" policy solutions for the issue of securing the southern U.S. border, as well as what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country.
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Scott Olson/Getty Images
In the new Fox News poll, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied with Walker for fifth at 6%. They’re followed by former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina at 5%, Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 4%, Rubio, and then New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who are both at 3% support.
The poll was conducted Aug. 11-13. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that the poll’s margin of error is 3 percentage points