US election 2016: Donald Trump leads with double digits in New Hampshire primary poll

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is poised to win the New Hampshire primary race if the latest CNN/WMUR poll is correct. The poll carried out on Wednesday (20 January) revealed Trump leads by double digits in the Granite State, with 34% support among Republican primary voters.

Trump widened his lead from December by two points, far surpassing his main opponents Ted Cruz (14%), Marco Rubio (10%) and Jeb Bush (10%). Several candidates, including some in the top four, experienced a slight decline since December 2015. Rubio dropped 4%, while Chris Christie dropped from 9% to 6%; John Kasich from 7% to 6%; Carly Fiorina from 5% to 4%; and Ben Carson from 5% to 3%. Meanwhile, Rand Paul saw a slight four point bump from 2% to 6%. Cruz and Bush also rose from their December numbers.

The new poll also revealed that while Trump has the highest support among Republican primary voters, he is also the top candidate to not receive the Republican vote. When asked which of the candidates they would not vote for under any circumstance, 30% of Republican primary voters said they would not vote for Trump. He was followed by Bush at 18% and Christie at 9%.

In terms of having the personal characteristics and qualities needed to be president, Trump tied with Cruz at 16%. Rubio and Bush trailed closely behind with 14% and 13% respectively.

Trump (30%) is the candidate who can best handle Isis, Republican primary voters in New Hampshire said. Cruz (14%) and Bush (12%) are the second and third best qualified to deal with the terrorist organisation. He overwhelmingly has the support of voters when it comes to the economy, the poll found, with 48% of voters choosing him as the best choice.

The poll found that more Republican primary voters in the state have a favourable opinion (54%) of Trump, than have an unfavourable one (40%). Voters had slightly more favourable opinions of Trump's biggest threats Cruz (55%) and Rubio (58%).

The New Hampshire primary is on 9 February.