Poll: Trump, Carson neck-and-neck in N.H.

By Gabby Morrongiello, Gabby Morrongiello

Published December 20, 2015

Ben Carson is closer than ever to toppling Donald Trump in New Hampshire, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The retired neurosurgeon earns 16 percent support in the latest WBUR survey of Republican voters in the Granite State, putting him just two percentage points behind Trump, 18 percent, and well within the margin of error against the New York billionaire.

Both outsider candidates have experienced a slight decline in support since the NPR affiliate last surveyed GOP voters in the first-in-the-nation primary state. Trump has fallen four points since September, when he stood at 22 percent, while Carson's support has shrunk by two percentage points.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio rounds out the top three with 11 percent support, marking a huge leap from his seventh-place position in September when he tied with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 2 percent. Christie, meanwhile, has risen to fifth place with 8 percent support in the WBUR poll.