Carson surging in New Hampshire

Presidential candidate Ben Carson is closing the gap with Donald Trump in New Hampshire, according to the latest poll of the early-voting state, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has fallen into a tie for fifth place.

The Monmouth University survey released Monday shows Trump taking 28 percent support.

{mosads}The next closest contender, Ben Carson, registered 17 percent support — a surge of 12 points in the same poll from July. Carson has the highest favorability rating in the field, with 73 percent saying they have a positive view of him, compared to only 10 percent who view him negatively.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the only other GOP candidate to register double-digit support in the New Hampshire poll, coming in at 11 percent.

Kasich is staking his candidacy on winning New Hampshire. He’s been camping out in the state, and both his campaign and a supporting super-PAC have been spending heavily on ads there. He has picked up four points in the Granite State over the same poll from July.

Rounding out the field are Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) at 8 percent support, followed by former businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Bush at 7 percent each, Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 4 percent, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 2 percent.

Bush and Walker have each tumbled five points over the same survey in July, while Trump, Kasich and Fiorina have each picked up four points.

Bush and Walker have also seen their favorability ratings slide.

A plurality of voters now view Bush unfavorably, with 39 percent saying they have a positive view of him, compared to 45 percent who view him negatively. In July, Bush was in positive territory, at 47 percent favorable and 37 percent unfavorable.

That’s a troubling sign for Bush, and further evidence that he faces a legitimate threat from Kasich for the establishment crown in a state that historically gravitates toward mainstream conservative candidates.

Walker’s favorability rating has dropped from 57 percent in July to 44 percent presently, while the number of those who view him negatively has increased from 16 percent to 25 percent.

The race for the Republican nomination has been dominated by outsiders Trump and Carson, who have never before held political office, while establishment candidates have struggled to gain traction.

Former Hewlett-Packard head Fiorina, also a political newcomer, has similarly been gaining in the polls since her strong performance at the Republican undercard debate last month. Fiorina has been elevated to the prime-time stage for the next GOP debate on Wednesday.

“Once again, the three candidates who have never held political office combine for a majority of support in a GOP primary poll,” said Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray. “This race has turned into the ‘Festivus’ campaign. It appears that GOP voters are using the 2016 nomination contest to air their grievances with party leadership.”

Sixty-eight percent of New Hampshire Republicans said they want the party’s nominee to come from outside the government, compared to only 23 percent who said they prefer a candidate with government experience.

The Monmouth University poll of 415 likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters was conducted between Sept. 10 and Sept. 13 and has a 4.8 percentage-point margin of error.