Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has launched into second place in New Hampshire according to a new poll, pushing ahead of Ted Cruz but still trailing front-runner Donald Trump by double digits ahead of the early voting state's primary on Tuesday.
In a new WHDH/UMass Lowell poll, Trump leads the field with 36 percent, followed by Rubio with 15 percent support, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) with 14 percent support, former Florida governor Jeb Bush with 8 percent support and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 7 percent support. The poll shows a significan bump for Rubio, who's up three points overnight and seven points since his strong third place finish in Monday's Iowa caucuses, according to The Hill.
Rubio on Wednesday gained the endorsements of five members of Congress. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), and Reps. Steve Womack and Rick Crawford, both Arkansas Republicans, all endorsed the Florida senator, according to Politico. This follows the highly sought endorsement of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott form the early voting state. Rubio has now surpassed the number of congressional endorsements that Bush has, reflecting the overall momentum in his campaign.
After outperforming expectations in the Iowa caucuses by taking third - and very close to Trump's second place finish - Rubio said he would be the candidate who unites the Republican party.
"Tonight we've taken the first step, an important step towards winning this election," Rubio said, according to Vox. "If I'm the nominee - and I will be the nominee thanks to what you've just done in this great state - when I'm our nominee, we're going to unify this party, and we're going to unify the conservative movement. When I'm our nominee, we're going to grow the conservative movement."
In recent New Hampshire polling, Trump has remained on top by 20 points at 32 percent support, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics. Rubio has climbed into second place with 11.8 percent, while Cruz has dropped to a close 11.3 percent. John Kasich also remains close to second and third place with 11 percent. Jeb Bush has also seen a mini surge up to 9.3 percent among recent averages.
