After recently announcing that he will "actively explore" a run for the White House in 2016, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has jumped out to a big lead in a CNN/ORC survey of potential Republican candidates.
The poll found that 23 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents would support Bush for the GOP nomination, up from 14 percent in a poll conducted in November.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who also saw a sizable increase in support from the previous poll, comes in second at 13 percent.
Christie is followed by conservative commentator Dr. Ben Carson at 7 percent, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Ran Paul, R-Ken., are tied at 6 percent.
Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., have seen drops in support compared to the previous poll, falling into the low single digits.
While the poll showed that some Republicans are concerned about Bush's positions on issues like illegal immigration and the Common Core educational standards, the vast majority said it is more important for the nominee to be able to beat the Democratic candidate.
The poll also showed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination, receiving support from 66 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., comes in a distant second at 9 percent, followed by Vice President Joe Biden at 8 percent.
Clinton also had big leads over the potential Republican nominees, with Bush doing the best by trailing by thirteen percentage points.
The CNN/ORC survey of 1,011 adults was conducted December 18th through 21st and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.