SIMI VALLEY, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Republican presidential candidates, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Carson, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush take part in the presidential debates at the Reagan Library on September 16, 2015 in Simi Valley, California. Fifteen Republican presidential candidates are participating in the second set of Republican presidential debates. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Carson slips in new poll numbers, Trump still in lead
01:38 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Donald Trump has a 10-point lead over the GOP field, a new Quinnipiac poll shows

Hillary Clinton has a 2-to-1 lead over Bernie Sanders, the poll shows

Washington CNN  — 

Donald Trump is now the undisputed leader of the Republican presidential pack, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, now has a 2-to-1 lead over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race.

Trump has 27% support from likely GOP primary voters nationwide in a survey released Wednesday. He’s followed by a second tier that’s bunched closely together: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is at 17%, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and neurosurgeon Ben Carson are at 16% each.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has 5% support, and no other candidates top 3%.

It’s a major drop from Carson, who a month ago was neck-and-neck with Trump, whose lead was then just 24% to Carson’s 23%.

Among Democrats, Clinton’s lead is now 60% to Sanders’ 35% – an improvement for the former secretary of state over an early-November Quinnipiac poll, which showed her leading 53% to 35%. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has 2% support.

The poll also shows that general election voters more broadly have shifted their support from the Republican candidates toward Clinton and Sanders as well.

Clinton beats Trump in a head-to-head competition, 47%-41%. She beats Rubio 45%-44%, Cruz 47%-42% and Carson 46%-43%.

Sanders does as well or better in head-to-head match-ups with Republicans, leading Trump 49%-41%, Rubio 44%-43%, Cruz 49%-39% and Carson 47%-41%.

Both of the front-runners have a problem with trustworthiness. Clinton is perceived by 60% of American voters as untrustworthy, compared to 36% who say she is trustworthy. Trump’s numbers, meanwhile, are 59% to 35%.

The poll was conducted November 23-30 – an unusual period for pollsters, since it includes the Thanksgiving holiday, when those surveyed are less likely to answer their phones.

A total of 1,453 American voters were surveyed, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. The poll includes 672 Republicans, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 points, and 573 Democrats, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 points.