Donald Trump is still dominating in the polls despite his latest campaign-trail dustups
Trump garnered 26% of the vote in a Fox News survey published Wednesday night, easily keeping him in the No. 1 position in the crowded field.
Two other Washington outsiders also performed well. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson followed Trump with 18%, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina tied Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for third at 9%.
Trump's lead was more modest in a Bloomberg Politics survey out Thursday. There, Trump held 21% of the vote among registered Republicans and other GOP-leaning voters. After him were Carson (16%), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (13%), and Fiorina (11%).
J. Ann Selzer, president of the firm that conducted the Bloomberg poll, Selzer & Co., marveled at the combined 48% strength of Trump, Carson, and Fiorina.
"At some level, it is a risk to elect a person with no experience in government," she told Bloomberg. "Republicans, especially, seem ready to take that risk."
In another poll published Thursday, Quinnipiac University similarly found Trump with 25% of the vote among Republican and GOP-leaning voters. Carson was again in the No. 2 slot, with 17%, followed by Fiorina at 12% and 10% for Bush.
Trump's support comes despite some campaign-trail dustups and a performance in last week's debate that slowed down toward the end. Last Thursday, Trump notably stirred controversy by declining to correct a supporter who called President Barack Obama a Muslim foreigner while declaring that Muslims are a "problem" in the US.
But there are some warning signs for Trump in the polls. In Quinnipiac's head-to-head matchups with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Trump slightly trailed her 45% to 43%, while Carson, Fiorina, and Carson all beat Clinton.
And Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, noted a sizable 29% of GOP voters said they would "definitely not" support Trump. Just 3% of voters said the same about Carson and Rubio.
"But when the number of Republicans who 'would definitely not support you' is greater than the number who support you, where does that leave you?" Malloy said in a statement. "Welcome to Trump World, comparing his fragile support from his own party to Hillary Clinton's sagging but still stronger support from her party."