Donald Trump's surge in the polls continues, with a spike of 11 points since June in the latest
Monmouth University poll.
Frontrunner Jeb Bush also got a bump from last month's poll.
Bush came in first in July's poll at 15 percent. Trump was second at 13 percent and Ted Cruz was third at 9 percent.
Rounding out the field were Scott Walker and Mike Huckabee at 7 percent; Marco Rubio, Ben Carson and Rand Paul at 6 percent; Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum at 2 percent; Carly Fiorina and John Kasich at 1 percen; and Lindsey Graham and George Pataki at less than 1 percent. Jim Gilmore had zero support.
A total of 18 percent said they haven't yet decided on a favorite.
"The biggest poll bump over the past few weeks has been for Donald Trump," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "But you’ve got to wonder if his support has already plateaued since many Republican voters don’t view him as a serious candidate."
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said Trump is more in the race to get publicity for himself than to make a serious run. Only 9 percent said Christie is in it for himself, and 5 percent said Bush and Huckabee are.
Since Trump entered the race June 16, his favorable rating has jumped from 20 percent to 55 percent, according to Monmouth. Despite controversy from his statements on illegal immigrants, his negative rating has gone up only one point, from 40 percent to 41 percent.
"It looks like Tea Party voters are really responding to Trump’s aggressive illegal immigrant message," Murray said.
Trump has been shooting up in several polls in the past weeks, including in North Carolina, where he is No. 1.