http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/277153-poll-trump-up-by-18-in-californiaApril 21, 2016, 02:30 pm
Poll: Trump up by 18 in California
By Jessie Hellmann
A new poll shows GOP front-runner Donald Trump leading in the upcoming California primary by 18 points.
A Capitol Weekly/Sextant Strategies poll shows Trump leading with 41 percent of the vote with Ted Cruz trailing with 23 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 21 percent, while 15 percent of Republicans said they are undecided.
Of those who said they would vote for Cruz, 69 percent said they strongly support him, while 26 percent said their Cruz vote is aimed at preventing Trump from becoming the nominee. Thirty-four percent of Kasich supporters said their vote was anti-Trump.
Nearly half of those polled, 47 percent, said they believe Trump will be the nominee, regardless of their preferred candidate. Twenty-four percent said someone not currently running will be the nominee, while only 22 percent said Cruz will be the nominee.
Fourty-two percent of people said that if Trump wins the most delegates before the convention, but not a majority, another candidate should be allowed to take the nomination. Fourty-eight percent of people said Trump should be the nominee if he leads the delegate count.
California is an important contest for the candidates as Cruz and Kasich seek to stop Trump from reaching the 1,237 delegates necessary to clinch the GOP nomination before the Republican convention in July.
The state offers up 172 delegates when it votes June 7. The winner of each of the state’s 53 congressional districts will receive three delegates while the statewide winner receives 13 delegates.
The poll was conducted among 1,165 registered Republicans.
The results of this poll are similar to a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday, which showed Trump leading Cruz by 18 points, 49 percent to 31 percent. Kasich has 16 percent support in that poll.
