Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businessman Donald Trump are now in a statistical tie among Republicans in the latest nationwide presidential poll. Trump received support from 29 percent of Republican respondents and Carson took 27 percent, well within the margin of error of 4.6 percent, according to the poll from Reuters/Ipsos. Carson has gained 9 points in the last week.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush remained in third with 9 percent, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in fourth with 6 percent. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz garnered 5 percent.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina both received 4 percent, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tied with 3 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was at 2 percent.
The survey also found that if the GOP field only included Carson, Trump and Bush, Carson would lead with 40 percent support, followed by Trump with 34 percent and Bush with 21 percent. GOP voters remained pessimistic about the direction the country is heading, with 83 percent saying it's going off the deep end. Only 10 percent said the nation is on the right track, while 7 percent did not know.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton maintained her lead with 53 percent, compared to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 33 percent and 2 percent for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
The survey was conducted Oct. 25-28 among 584 Republicans and 676 Democrats, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.6 percent for Republicans, and 4.3 percentage points for Democrats.
Carson beat Trump in a CBS News/New York Times poll released earlier this week, ending Trump's 100-day reign as the continuous front-runner. That poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
Another new poll, conducted among Arizona Republicans, found Carson leading the field with 25.5 percent, followed by Trump's 24.8 percent, reported Phoenix Biz Journals.
