Donald Trump saw a slight decline in support in a new national poll released after the fifth and final Republican debate of 2015, though he continues to lead the field by a wide margin.
Trump won the support of 36 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters in the latest Morning Consult poll, conducted in the two days following Tuesday night's debate in Las Vegas. In the same poll taken immediately before the debate, Trump led the pack with 38 percent.
His closest rival, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, trails 24 points behind with 12 percent in the latest poll, compared to 14 percent in the pre-debate survey.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz followed with 11 percent, down from 12 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took nine percent, a one point increase, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush remained steady with seven percent. Support for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul increased by one point to three percent, while businesswoman Carly Fiorina and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie both took two percent. Eleven percent said they didn't know who they support.
Trump's support among men stayed at 42 percent both before and after the debate, however with women, his support declined from 34 percent before to 29 percent after.
If Trump was up against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the general election, one in six Republicans said that they would cast their vote for Clinton, while 15 percent said they were undecided, remaining constant in both polls.
The survey was conducted among 862 registered Republicans and GOP-leaning voters from Dec. 16-17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
A separate Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll released Thursday out of New Hampshire shows Trump maintaining a healthy lead with 26 percent, while several Republican rivals have picked up steam.
Cruz and Rubio tied with 12 percent, with Cruz's support increasing seven points and Rubio's six points since a FPU/Herald poll released in October. Close behind is Christie at 11 percent, up eight points, followed by Bush at 10 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with eight percent. Support for Fiorina dropped four points in the October poll to six percent in the latest one, while Carson, who was in second place at 16 percent in October, dropped to five percent, according to The Washington Times.
