Jeb Bush Leads 2016 GOP Field if Mitt Romney Stays Out

A new CNN/ORC poll shows former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., starts out the Republican presidential nomination fight with a slight lead if former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., does not run again.

Romney leads the pack with 20 percent followed by Dr. Ben Carson with 10 percent and Bush with 9 percent. Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., takes 8 percent followed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., with 7 percent. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., are tied with 6 percent. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., are knotted up with 5 percent each. Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, takes 4 percent while U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., pulls 3 percent. Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., take 2 percent each while two governors -- Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mike Pence of Indiana -- get 1 percent each. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who announced on Tuesday he will not run for president in 2016, takes less than 1 percent.

But when Romney is left out of the mix, Bush moves to the head of the pack. Bush takes 14 percent in that scenario followed by Carson with 11 percent and Huckabee with 10 percent. Christie and Ryan tie with 9 percent followed by Paul with 8 percent and Cruz with 7 percent. Perry and Walker get 5 percent each and Kasich and Rubio take 3 percent each. Santorum gets 2 percent, Jindal and Pence still pull 1 percent each and Portman lags again with less than 1 percent.

The poll of 510 Republicans was taken from Nov. 21-23 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.