Confounding many analysts, Donald Trump continues to pull away from the Republican presidential primary race, doubling his lead over his closest pursuer Jeb Bush in the latest poll.
A new Monmouth University poll shows Trump gaining 24 percent support of the voters in New Hampshire, with Bush far behind at 12 percent.
The poll was conducted July 23-26.
Fifteen other Republican candidates were at the bottom of the pack, garnering from 7 percent to 1 percent.
The poll listed some 14 percent of likely primary voters as undecided. It had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
Pollsters and pundits expressed surprise at the rising popularity of Trump who, the Monmouth poll noted, "takes votes from nearly all of his opponents."
"This has gone on longer than I expected," Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University poll, told The Hill. "I thought after the McCain comments, voters would start looking at other candidates, but he's survived. I think it's evidence he's really tapping in to something."
Murray was referring to Trump's disparaging comments on Senator John McCain who, the billionaire real estate mogul said, should not be considered a war hero simply because he spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
The attack on McCain and his continued bashing of "criminal" Mexican immigrants don't appear to have hurt his image with the voters, pollsters said.
A recent CNN/ORC survey explained why Trump is raking in the numbers in the polls.
The survey showed 40 percent of American voters said they feel their views are not well represented by the government in Washington. A smaller portion of voters, 30 percent, said they feel the American government is doing a good job representing them.
The dissatisfaction figure is even higher among Republican voters. Fifty-three percent of GOP voters feel that Washington is not representing them well—a way higher dissatisfaction figure compared to the 27 percent registered among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.
Among disgruntled Republicans, 24 percent said they are likely to vote for Trump.
Trump holds a commanding lead over his other fellow Republican presidential hopefuls. Bush had a 13-percent voter preference in the CNN/ORC survey. All other Republican presidential aspirants scored 8 percent or less.
Fifty-eight percent of these disgruntled Republican voters also said that they would like the controversial businessman to stay in the presidential race.
Furthermore, 27 percent of these Republican voters think Trump will ultimately win the party nomination.
Which issue the Republican voters who favour Trump is most concerned with? The CNN/ORC poll revealed that 14 percent of the disgruntled Republican voters think immigration should be the top issue for the upcoming presidential elections.
Trump has so far shown a tough stance on immigration issues, even once calling Mexican immigrant rapists and thieves.
Although dissatisfaction figures among Republicans are high, 31 percent of them said they are "extremely enthusiastic" to vote a new president next year. Twenty-nine percent, however, said they are dissatisfied with the current line-up of Republican candidates.
