Carson atop national polling index for first time

Candidate Ben Carson has surpassed Donald Trump in the RealClearPolitics (RCP) polling average, taking the top spot for the first time this presidential election cycle.

{mosads}Carson now stands at 25.3 percent support in the national polling index, a full percentage point ahead of Trump. Trump had been atop the index since mid-June, shortly after he launched his campaign.

Carson and Trump have traded first place in several recent polls.

The soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon has been surging in polls for the past couple of months, cutting into the celebrity real estate tycoon’s massive lead over the GOP field. 

The latest national poll factored into the index was released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University. Although that poll found the pair neck and neck, it’s the latest showing Carson’s surge.

Carson took 23 percent in that poll to Trump’s 24 percent. Carson had a 6-point lead in a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey and a 4-point edge in a CBS/New York Times poll.

Carson has also surpassed Trump in RCP’s polling average in the early-voting state of Iowa, 25.8 to 22.3 percent, while Trump maintains a big lead in New Hampshire, 27.5 to 13.5 percent.

Trump has gone on the offensive recently to target Carson, with his latest line of attack suggesting that his rival lacks the “temperament” to be commander in chief.