In the new year's first national presidential poll, front-runner Donald Trump maintained an important lead over his fellow GOP White House hopefuls and garnered the support of 35 percent of the party's supporters.

The poll, conducted by NBC and SurveyMonkey, showed that the real estate tycoon bested Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who came in at 18 percent, by 17 percentage points, the network reported. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio -- who like Cruz is of Cuban-American heritage -- logged 13 percent in the survey, conducted between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3.

Trump seemed to have been able to further cement his front-runner status, mainly because more than half of his supporters said that they are absolutely certain that they will vote for him, while fewer than a third admitted that they might change their preference later.

Backers of Cruz and Rubio, on the other hand, did not show that kind of conviction. Forty-nine percent of those listing one of Trump's Hispanic rivals as their first choice said there was a large chance that they would stick with their candidate, but admitted they were not absolutely certain.

While all GOP presidential hopefuls have been touting their conservative credentials, Trump also seemed to have the edge among "very conservative" voters, 35 percent of whom said they back the former "Apprentice" star, The Hill noted. Among that group, 30 percent favored Cruz and only 8 percent supported Rubio, the political publication added.

Trump was also favored among evangelical voters, a group that is likely to wield much influence in the first caucuses in the nation in Iowa early next month. Thirty-three percent of evangelical voters planned to vote for the New York native, with Cruz garnering 21 percent and Rubio taking 10 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, meanwhile, also remained strong within this group, scoring 12 percent in the survey.

The NBC/Survey Monkey poll was conducted among a national sample of 3,700 adults aged 18 and over, including 3,181 who said they are registered to vote, the network noted. Respondents were selected from the nearly 3 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day, the pollsters explained.