Just one day before the New Hampshire primary, Republican presidential contender Donald Trump continues to dominate the field, while four of his rivals are in a virtual tie for second place, according to the latest poll from Monmouth University. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by 10 points.
The poll, much of which was conducted before Saturday's GOP debate, shows that Trump leads the Republican pack by double-digits, with 30 percent of likely Republican primary voters saying they plan to vote for the billionaire businessman in Tuesday's primary.
Trailing in second place was Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 14 percent, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 13 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 13 percent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 12 percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took 6 percent, businesswoman Carly Fiorina 5 percent and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson 4 percent. Most remained steady in their numbers compared to a similar poll in January, with the exception of Bush, who rose 9 points, contradicting concerns that his campaign was dying, notes The Washington Examiner.
Forty-nine percent of Republican respondents told pollsters they have completely decided on which candidate they will vote for in Tuesday's election, while another 31 percent said they have a strong preference but could change their mind, 12 percent only have a slight preference and 9 percent are undecided.
"Volatility is the name of the game in 2016's first primary contest, just as it was in the first caucus state last week. While Trump's placement as the top finisher seems fairly secure at this point, the margin of victory and final order of the remaining candidates are still very much up for grabs," said Patrick Murray, director Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Among likely Democratic primary voters, 52 percent said they plan to vote for Sanders, while 42 percent said they favored Clinton.
Sixty percent of Democrats said they are fully committed to their candidate, with Clinton's supporters slightly more likely than Sanders' to say they are locked in - 68 percent to 60 percent.
The telephone poll was conducted from Feb. 4-6 with 508 likely Republican voters and 502 likely Democratic voters. The margin of error for both samples was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
