WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) — A poll released Thursday finds that one out of every three Republican primary voters supports a third-party presidential run from Donald Trump if he is denied the GOP nomination at a brokered convention.
While an overwhelming majority, 63 percent, say Trump should not run as an independent candidate if he loses the nomination entering the convention with the most delegates, the number who would encourage him to do so is high enough it could split the party vote and sink the Republican nominee if those percentages were to hold up in a general election.
Just one-in-four registered voters said they hold a favorable opinion of the real estate developer, while 63 percent — the same as the amount who would discourage a third-party run — said they hold an unfavorable opinion of him.
Trump’s unfavorable rating increased 6 percentage points in the CBS poll from the last time voters were queried in March.
The telephone poll was conducted April 8-12 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The subset of Republican-oriented questions carries a margin of error of 6 percentage points.
