The news isn’t that Jeb Bush has the top spot, he’s toyed with that for weeks. However, Donald Trump has now rocketed into the second place position knocking down Scott Walker in the state of New Hampshire.
Report from Politico:
Jeb Bush leads the crowded field of Republican presidential contenders in New Hampshire, according to a Suffolk University poll released Tuesday. Donald Trump is in second.
The poll represents more good news for Bush in the Granite State, where he has led by an average of 4.2 percentage points in recent months, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
Among likely Republican primary voters, former Florida Gov. Bush picked up 14 percent, while the billionaire real-estate mogul Trump grabbed 11 percent. Most respondents—29 percent—are undecided.
No other candidates are in double digits, with 8 percent for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, 7 percent for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, 6 percent for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 5 percent for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and 4 percent each for businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Jeb Bush continues to lead, but Donald Trump has emerged as an anti-Jeb Bush alternative in New Hampshire,” said David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University poll. “Many of those who like Trump are voting for him, and although many more dislike him, the unfavorables are split up among many other candidates. It’s the politics of plurality.”
Trump hasn’t spent much time in Iowa, but he has focused much more energy on New Hampshire where he has a shot at the upset. If he’s going to win an early state, it’s the state which votes for the “maverick outsider” over the establishment. That voting trend wasn’t true in 2012, mind you, but Romney was a well-known name from his time next door as Governor of Massachusetts.
