Donald Trump has moved back into the lead of the 2016 Republican presidential contest, while Ted Cruz has surged into second place, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Meanwhile, Ben Carson — who was ahead in the poll back in late October — has dropped 18 points to fourth place in the GOP race.
In the current poll, Trump is the first choice of 27 percent of Republican primary voters, followed by Cruz at 22 percent, and Marco Rubio at 15 percent.
"Where Cruz picked up is where Carson lost ground," says Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff.
"This is a real shift," McInturff adds.
