Businesswoman Carly Fiorina and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., received a boost after Wednesday night’s debate between the Republican presidential candidates, a new poll shows.
On behalf of One America News Network, Gravis Marketing took a poll of Republicans across the nation after the debate to see who they thought won the debate. A third of those surveyed -- 33 percent -- say Fiorina was the winner. More than a fifth of those surveyed -- 21 percent -- say businessman Donald Trump won while 16 percent think Rubio was the winner.
Dr. Ben Carson was identified as the winner by 8 percent while 5 percent think U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took the honors. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., were each seen as the winner by 4 percent while 3 percent pointed to Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, as the winner. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., were singled out by 2 percent apiece as the winner.
Around a third of those surveyed -- 32 percent -- said Paul lost the debate while 17 percent think Trump did. Kasich was identified as the loser by 11 percent while 9 percent think it was Bush and 8 percent say it was Huckabee. Walker was called the loser of the debate by 6 percent while 5 percent think it was Carson, 4 percent say Christie and Fiorina, 3 percent pointed to Cruz and 2 percent say Rubio was the loser.
More than three-quarters of those surveyed -- 78 percent -- say they see Fiorina as more favorable after the debate while 13 percent view her as less favorable and the rest are unchanged. Rubio also did well on this front with 71 percent seeing him as more favorable while 11 percent see him as less favorable after the debate. The poll found Christie also got a boost from the debate with 60 percent seeing him as more favorable after it while 19 percent view him as less favorable after it.
Carson made progress in the debate with almost half of those surveyed -- 48 percent -- seeing him as more favorable after it while 23 percent view him less favorably. Bush and Cruz have similar numbers in the poll with 42 percent seeing them more favorably after the debate. Bush is seen less favorably by 31 percent after the debate while 28 percent say that of Cruz.
A plurality of those surveyed -- 40 percent -- say their view on Walker did not change after the debate while 31 percent see him more favorably and 29 percent view him in a less favorable light. While 38 percent say their views on Huckabee did not change during the debate, 36 percent view him more favorably while 27 percent see him less favorably. Kasich did worse as 32 percent saw him less favorably after the debate, 31 percent viewed him more favorably and 37 percent did not change their view of him.
More than half of those surveyed -- 58 percent -- see Paul as less favorable after the debate while only 15 percent view him more favorably. A third of those surveyed -- 33 percent -- see Trump as more favorable after the debate but 36 percent see him less favorably.
Fiorina and Rubio also moved up when Republicans were asked who they wanted to see as their candidate. Trump was joined at the top by Fiorina with 22 percent apiece. Rubio, who has been in single digits in most national polls, moved up to third with 15 percent followed by Carson with 12 percent. Cruz and Bush were tied for fifth with 6 percent apiece while Christie and Kasich claimed 4 percent each. Walker took 3 percent while Huckabee and Paul pulled 2 percent apiece.
Of the candidates excluded from the main debate on Wednesday night, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., pulled 1 percent while former Gov. Jim Gilmore, R-Va., U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.., Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., and former Gov. George Pataki, R-N.Y., took less than 1 percent.
The poll of 1,337 Republican voters was taken from after the debate on Sept. 16-Sept. 17 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
