Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina were clear winners in the CNN GOP presidential debate according the results of a recent survey of high efficacy primary republican voters across Arizona represented by likely 2016 turnout models.
Rubio gained 7.8 percent, and Fiorina saw jump of slightly over 6 percent in likely voters. Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carlson, and Jeb Bush lost support while Senator Ted Cruz held steady with an increase of almost 2 percent.
In this most recent automated telephonic survey by public affairs consulting firm MBQF, conducted on September 21, 2015, the exact question was phrased: “If the election were held today for the Republican primary for President of the United States, which of the following top 10 candidates, listed in alphabetical order by last name, would you be most likely to vote for?”
| AZ GOP Presidential Primary 2016 | Sept. 12, 2015 Results | Sept 21, 2015 Results | Difference |
| Donald Trump | 29.9% | 22.5% | -7.4% |
| Ben Carson | 21.3% | 18.7% | -2.6% |
| Jeb Bush | 10.9% | 7.1% | -3.8% |
| Carly Fiorina | 9.3% | 15.7% | +6.4% |
| Ted Cruz | 6.2% | 8.1% | +1.9% |
| Marco Rubio | 3.9% | 11.8% | +7.8% |
| John Kasich | 2.8% | 2.4% | -0.4% |
| Scott Walker | 2.5% | * | * |
| Chris Christie | 2.2% | 2.0% | -0.2% |
| Mike Huckabee | 1.6% | 1.3% | -0.3% |
| Rand Paul | 1.1% | 1.4% | +0.3% |
| Unsure/Undecided | 8.4% | 9.1% | +0.7% |
* Candidate dropped out of the race
Michael Noble, consultant and pollster, issued the following statement, “After the second televised presidential debate we see who the winners and losers are in the GOP presidential race. Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina clearly connected with GOP voters, and the biggest loser was Donald Trump; but Jeb Bush continues to find ways to lose traction with Republican primary voters. Clearly substance matters to voters and Marco and Carly proved that when they took the stage.”
The margin of error for this survey is +/-2.47%. The survey calculates a 2.47% theoretical margin of error, plus or minus in percentage points, 95% of the time.