NBC Poll: Donald Trump Holds 17-Point Lead

In the first national poll released this year, Donald Trump continues to hold a double-digit lead. The Hill reports:

Trump is supported by 35 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning registered voters in the online survey, with Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 18 and 13 percent, respectively.

All other candidates poll in single digits, with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 9 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 6 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent and businesswoman Carly Fiorina at 3 percent.

A third of white evangelicals surveyed, 33 percent, support Trump, while Cruz gets 21 percent and Rubio 10 percent of that group, a key support group candidates are focusing on in the early voting state of Iowa.

Trump is also supported by 35 percent of “very conservative” voters, versus 30 percent for Cruz and 8 percent for Rubio.

Cruz remains favored to win the February 1st Iowa caucus. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders by 17 points.