Presidential Polls 2016: Survey Finds Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Would Win Republican, Democratic Primary Elections in Tennessee if Held Today

By Selena Hill First Posted: Dec 06, 2015 08:47 AM EST

A new poll reveals that presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would win the Republican and Democratic primary races in Tennessee, respectively, if the election was held today.

Trump 29 Percent, Carson 25

According to a Vanderbilt University poll released on Friday, the 2016 GOP front runner would win the Republican primary in Tennessee with 29 percent of the vote, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson would come in second place with 25 percent if the primary was held today, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas landed in third place with 14 percent, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio received 12 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had 6 percent. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina came in at 2 percent.

The new poll found that Trump received the most support from voters who identify as tea party Republicans. Altogether, 33 percent of tea partiers favored the billionaire businessman, while 21 percent said they would vote for Carson. Eighteen percent backed Cruz, 12 percent supported Rubio and 5 percent for Bush.

Clinton 48 Percent, Sanders 28

The poll, which was conducted from Nov. 11-23, also showed that Clinton would win 48 percent of Tennessee Democratic voters, giving her a 20-point edge over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who would get 28 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, 10 percent said they don't know yet and 3 percent favored former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley.

According to Joshua Clinton, a Vanderbilt political science professor and the poll's co-director, the survey was not taken to try to predict the election. Rather, it was conducted "to give nuance and context about what Tennesseans think about what's going on, but based on our poll, if the Democratic primary were held today, Hillary Clinton would win Tennessee pretty overwhelmingly," he said.

"Among Republicans, it's a little more divided. Realizing our poll was being done at a point while Carson was falling nationally in the polls ... if the Republican primary were held today, Trump would win. He held a small lead over Carson, and that support is across the board - tea party Republicans, non-tea party Republicans, born-again Christian Republicans. In every category practically, Trump is either first or second. At the time the poll was done, the race in the Republican primary was between Trump and Carson," he added.