Trump holds narrow lead over Carson in new poll

by Jesse Byrnes - 10/19/15 5:41 PM ET

Donald Trump is in first place in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of the Republican presidential race, though his edge over Ben Carson narrows 25 percent to 22 percent.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) comes in third, with 13 percent.

{mosads}Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) follows with 9 percent, a doubling of his support in the poll, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ticked upward to 8 percent.

The results from Monday’s poll underline how the GOP race has been dominated by two outsider candidates: businessman and television star Trump, and retired neurosurgeon Carson.

Monday’s poll represents a 4-point gain for Trump, a 2-point gain for Carson, a 2-point gain for Rubio, a 4-point gain for Cruz and 1-point gain for Bush since last month.

Former businesswoman Carly Fiorina is at 7-percent support in the latest poll, down 4 points following a bump in her numbers from the second GOP debate last month.

The survey of 400 GOP primary voters was conducted Oct. 15 to Oct. 18 and has a margin of error of 4.9 points.

Tags 2016 Republican primary Ben Carson Donald Trump