Trump Surges in Connecticut; Pollster: Republicans 'Want an Outsider'

GOP front-runner Donald Trump's top spot in the primary race remains strong in Connecticut, where he netted 34 percent of the voters in a new Quinnipiac University state poll, marking his highest score in any of the pollsters' state surveys yet.

“Connecticut Republicans apparently want an outsider, as Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina lead the field and get a combined total of 59 percent of the Republican primary vote," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said. "Establishment candidates such as Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio are in single digits."

Among Republicans:

Donald Trump, 34 percent
Ben Carson, 14 percent
Carly Fiorina, 11 percent
Marco Rubio, 7 percent
Jeb Bush, 6 percent
Ted Cruz, 6 percent

No other candidate tops 4 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains in first place in Connecticut, but her numbers dropped to 37 percent, from 53 percent recorded in a March 12 Quinnipiac survey. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders placed second, with 25 percent; Vice President Joe Biden came in third, with 18 percent; and 12 percent of the Democratic voters were undecided.

Biden, who has not yet declared his candidacy, received the top favorability rating among Connecticut voters.

Among the scores:

Biden: Positive 56-29 percent
Bush: Negative 33–51 percent
Clinton: Negative 42–51 percent
Trump: Negative 37 – 56 percent
Carson: Positive 39 – 26 percent
Sanders: Positive 39 – 25 percent
Fiorina: Positive 33 – 25 percent

Trump and Clinton topped their parties' "no way" lists, as 25 percent of GOP voters said they definitely would not vote for Trump, followed by Bush with 22 percent who would not support him. Among Democrats, 16 percent said there is no way they'd vote for Clinton.

And despite Trump's high numbers, the poll showed that Democratic front-runners would defeat him in Connecticut in the general election.

Biden runs best in theoretical matchups:

51–39 percent over Carson
53–36 percent over Fiorina
55–37 percent over Trump

Clinton also topped GOP candidates:

44-42 percent over Carson
45-40 percent over Fiorina
47-40 percent over Trump

Sanders, as well, came out ahead over the top GOP candidates:

44-41 percent over Carson
44–39 percent over Fiorina
49-40 percent over Trump

The poll was conducted from Oct 7-11 of 1,735 registered voters, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. It included 464 Republicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points and 610 Democrats with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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