Ben Carson Leads Trump for First Time in New US National Poll

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has outstripped businessman Donald Trump to lead the pack of Republican presidential candidates for the first time, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Rasmussen also found that Trump, the clear Republican frontrunner over the past three months, has suffered a slight fall in support.

"The… national telephone survey finds that 59 percent of Likely Republican Voters now think Carson… is likely to win the Republican nomination, with 16 percent who say it’s Very Likely," the polling company said.

The survey was carried out by telephone on the nights of September 16, when the second Republican presidential debate was held in California, and the following night of September 17 of 1000 likely voters.

"Our latest Trump Change survey shows that 58 percent of GOP [Republican] voters think Trump is likely to be the party’s nominee, but that includes 23 percent who say it’s Very Likely," the statement noted.

"Carson is now in a virtual tie with recent front-runner Donald Trump," Rasmussen stated.

However, Rasmussen added that 47 percent of those polled said they still believed Trump would win the Republican nomination.

Some 40 percent of Republicans still believe former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is likely to end up as the Republican nominee, the poll found.