Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump leads Democrat Hillary Clinton head-to-head, according to a new poll released Friday.
The poll by SurveyUSA finds that matched up directly, Trump garners 45 percent to Clinton’s 40 percent.
In other head-to-head matchups, Trump beats out Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) by 44 percent to 40 percent; Vice President Joe Biden by 44 percent to 42 percent; and former Vice President Al Gore by 44 percent to 41 percent.
Trump’s surge past Clinton marks a dramatic turnaround in the polls.
A CNN/ORC sampling of national voters in late June — just days after Trump entered the race — found that 59 percent supported Clinton to 34 percent picking Trump in a head-to-head race.
The same poll taken in July saw Clinton at 57 percent to Trump at 38 percent. And a version taken in August had Clinton with 52 percent support and Trump with 43 percent.
Trump has seen his campaign’s popularity surge through the summer while Clinton’s has struggled with voter concerns over her transparency and trustworthiness as secretary of State.
The poll also found that 30 percent of respondents believe Trump will eventually be the Republican nominee, leading the field.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came in second, with 20 percent saying they expect him to win the nomination. Following Bush in order were retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
The poll surveyed 1,000 adults across the nation Sept. 2-3, and it had a margin of error of 3.3
