Donald Trump is blowing everyone else out of the water in 2 key states
A new Public Policy Polling poll of Republican primary voters in New Hampshire found that the real-estate mogul is far ahead of the competition, with 35% saying that they would vote for Trump if the primary were held today.
The closest opponent was Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), who garnered 11%.
"This is by far the best we've found Donald Trump doing anywhere during his entire surge," Dean Debnam, the president of Public Policy Polling, said in a statement. "If anything he just seems to be getting stronger as the campaign rolls on."
The results were similar to a Monmouth University poll of South Carolina Republican primary voters, which showed Trump leading the pack with 30% of the vote. He was trailed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who clocked in at a distant second with 15%.
New Hampshire and South Carolina are the first two primary states, taking place after the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. They are generally seen as crucial states that can help candidates build momentum and demonstrate their ability to win the overall Republican primary.
Trump took a victory lap on Twitter following the release of the new polls. He also took a shot at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), a fellow candidate with whom he has been in an ongoing feud:
Pollsters and analysts have maintained that Trump benefits from populist, anti-establishment anger among Republican primary voters, as well as a fragmented primary field.
But even that theory appears to be crumbling, at least in New Hampshire.
According to the PPP poll, Trump would trounce his rivals in head-to-head matchups. The survey found that Trump beat out Carson by 8 points, Walker by 18%, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) by 19%, and Bush by 23%.
Perhaps more troubling for Trump's Republican rivals, at this point, is that Trump's support appears to be much broader and across the board than originally thought.
"He leads with Tea Party voters (44%), men (39%), independents (36%), conservatives (36%), voters who are most concerned about electability (35%), both younger voters and seniors (at 34% with each), evangelicals (32%), women (30%), and moderates (29%)," PPP reported.
These aren't the first indicators that Republican primary voters are taking Trump seriously.
A CNN poll released earlier this month found that 37% of Republican voters believed Trump would be the best candidate to handle the economy.
That number is far higher than his support in Iowa, which was 22% in the same PPP poll, indicating that even some voters who do not plan on voting for Trump believe that there is more to him than anti-establishment bluster.