Donald Trump claims the support of a near majority of Republicans nationwide in a new poll out Tuesday by NBC News/Survey Monkey. The Republican presidential frontrunner snags 48 percent support — a full 21 points ahead of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has 27 percent, and 30 points ahead of Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 18 percent. And in a potentially bad sign for GOP power brokers hoping for a contested convention, 57 percent of Republican voters say that if Trump secures the plurality — not necessarily a majority — of delegates, he should be the Republican Party's presidential nominee. Only 27 percent of Republicans say that he should not be the nominee without a clear delegate majority.
The poll was conducted from March 21-27 among a national sample of 6,521 adults. Its margin of error is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points.
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