Donald Trump continues to lead the GOP presidential field by a wide margin, while Ben Carson, who statistically tied Trump four weeks ago, has dropped to third place, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released 60 days before the Iowa caucuses.
The poll shows Trump leading with 27 percent support of Republican voters, up from 24 percent in last month's poll and a 10-point lead over the next closest contender.
"It doesn't seem to matter what he says or who he offends, whether the facts are contested or the 'political correctness' is challenged, Donald Trump seems to be wearing Kevlar," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, reports The Hill.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio moved into second place with 17 percent support, a 3 percent increase from last month, while Carson dropped 7 points and is now tied in third place with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, with 16 percent each. Cruz also increased his support by 3 percent since last month.
Carson's decline comes amid criticism over disputed stories he told from his childhood and questions raised about his lack of foreign policy experience, according to the New York Daily News.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came next with just 5 percent, and no other candidate tops 3 percent.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton widened her lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, now beating the self-described democratic socialist 60 percent to 30 percent. That's a significant boost over last month's poll, when Clinton led 53 percent to 35 percent. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley took 2 percent, and 6 percent were undecided.
In a general election head-to-head matchup, Clinton and Sanders have gained ground against the Republicans, coming out on top in nearly every competition.
Clinton beat Trump 47 percent to 41 percent. She came out on top against Rubio, 45 percent to 44 percent, tops Cruz 47 percent to 42 percent and led Carson 46 percent to 43 percent.
Sanders did even better, topping Trump 49 percent to 41 percent, getting 44 percent to Rubio's 43 percent, beating Cruz 49 percent to 39 percent and leading Carson 47 percent to 41 percent.
Clinton still has an issue with honesty and trustworthiness, as 60 percent of American voters said she is lacking these qualities. Trump got the second worst grades, with 59 percent saying he is not honest or trustworthy. Sanders did best among top candidates, with 59 percent saying he is honest and trustworthy compared to 28 percent who said he is not.
The survey was conducted among 1,453 voters nationwide between Nov. 23 and Nov. 30 and has a 2.6 percent margin of error. The margin of error among the 672 Republicans is 3.8 percentage points and is 4.1 percentage points for the 573 Democrats.
