--- description: Ted Cruz ekes out a lead over Donald Trump, while Marco Rubio appears to be gaining traction, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. title: Cruz Closes In on Trump in New National Poll image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b54fef79cf90580/69887b0d5f570f441ab1f623/gettyimages-505043546.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Cruz Closes In on Trump in New National Poll by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 17, 2016 10:01 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidates (L-R) Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speak during a commercial break in the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center on January 14, 2016 in North Charleston, South Carolina. Republican presidential candidates (L-R) Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speak during a commercial break in the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center on January 14, 2016 in North Charleston, South Carolina.Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 17, 2016 10:01 PM CUT Texas Senator Ted Cruz is closing in on Donald Trump in the [race for the Republican presidential nomination](http://time.com/4205539/donald-trump-oral-history/ "undefined"), beating the billionaire by a narrow 2 percentage points in a new national poll. Although Cruz’s lead in the new NBC News/_Wall Street Journal_ poll is within its 4.9 percentage-point margin of error, the fact that Cruz is this close is notable since Trump has maintained such a strong lead over opponents for several months. The poll has Cruz as the first choice of 28% of Republican primary voters, while Trump is behind with 26%. The two are followed by Senator Marco Rubio (17%), Ohio Governor John Kasich (11%), Ben Carson (10%) and former Florida governor Jeb Bush (4%). There may be good news for Rubio here; [as Cruz and Trump continue to tangle in the polls, his stock keeps on growing](http://time.com/4227973/marco-rubio-nikki-haley-south-carolina-endorsement/ "undefined") — some 70% of GOP primary voters could see themselves supporting him and he bests Trump in a head-to-head matchup 57% to 41%. Trump held a 13-point lead over Cruz last month, but this poll was conducted after Saturday’s GOP debate in South Carolina, where the billionaire was [booed several times by the audience](http://time.com/4221465/republican-debate-donald-trump-booed/ "undefined"). Other national surveys show Trump still in the lead, but the NBC/_Wall Street Journal_ poll appears to be one of the few conducted after the debate. NBC/_Wall Street Journal_ conducted the poll from Feb. 14 to 16 with input from 800 registered voters, of which 400 were Republican primary voters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4228156/donald-trump-ted-cruz-national-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4228156/donald-trump-ted-cruz-national-poll/"},"headline":"Cruz Closes In on Trump in New National Poll","datePublished":"2016-02-17T22:01:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:10:15.392Z","description":"Marco Rubio appears to be gaining traction as an alternative","url":"https://time.com/4228156/donald-trump-ted-cruz-national-poll/","keywords":["2016 Election","republicans","2016 Election topic","Polls","ted cruz","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b54fef79cf90580/69887b0d5f570f441ab1f623/gettyimages-505043546.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b54fef79cf90580/69887b0d5f570f441ab1f623/gettyimages-505043546.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Charleston","caption":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Charleston","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4228156/donald-trump-ted-cruz-national-poll/","name":"Cruz Closes In on Trump in New National Poll"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Ninth GOP Debate In Less Than Four MInutes","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SNLcU0ea/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-14T06:10:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SNLcU0ea.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4228156/donald-trump-ted-cruz-national-poll/","duration":"PT3M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4228156/donald-trump-ted-cruz-national-poll/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```