According to a new poll, Carly Fiorina is the Republican presidential candidate of choice after Thursday night's debates.
The nationwide poll of more than 17,000 people from the Association of Mature American Citizens — a conservative organization for those 50-years-old and up — asked who won Thursday night and included candidates in the official GOP debate and the earlier, second-tier debate. With 6,273 votes Fiorina led the poll at 36 percent.
CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 06: Republican presidential candidates (L-R) Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina and George Pataki participate in a presidential pre-debate forum hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. Seven GOP candidates were selected to participate in the forum based on their rank in an average of the five most recent national political polls. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Texas Senator Ted Cruz came in second place with 17 percent of the votes (3,015), and controversial real estate mogul Donald Trump came in third place with 14 percent of the votes (2,414).
"For those of us who know Carly, her dominating performance was no surprise," Anna Epstein, press secretary for Fiorina's campaign told TheBlaze. "With the lowest name ID in the field, it's important to keep introducing her to voters and letting them see that she is a true conservative ready to challenge the status quo. So we'll keep traveling the country, meeting voters, and answering their questions."
But according to the press release from AMAC, the organization's president, Dan Weber, called the results a "shocker."
"It is surprising that Carly was the candidate of choice for many seniors even though she was not on the main stage during the second debate," Weber said in a statement to TheBlaze. "That says something about what voters will be looking for this election."
"Seniors are looking for a young, principled, energetic candidate," he said. "Carly obviously struck a sweet spot with politically engaged seniors during the first debate."
While Fiorina has been quick to bash Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton on issues such as Benghazi and abortion, the former business executive was also quick to condemn Trump after the comments he made about Fox News host and GOP debate moderator Megyn Kelly.
“Mr. Trump: There. Is. No. Excuse,” Fiorina tweeted.
Trump has contended that his statement to CNN that Kelly had "blood coming out of her — wherever" was really in reference to her nose, but that hasn't stopped the outpouring of criticism. Erick Erickson, editor of RedState, even disinvited the candidate to the gathering over the weekend.
Seven candidates rounded out the bottom of the poll, all with zero percent: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with 51 votes, former Texas Governor Rick Perry with 45 votes, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal with 32 votes, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum with 16 votes, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore with 13 votes, former New York Governor George Pataki with 10 votes and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham with eight votes.
According to data provided to TheBlaze from Synthesio, a company that bills itself as the leading global social intelligence platform, Trump generated the most buzz online. The social media analysis group studied social media, online media sites, mainstream media sites, blogs and forums during the official GOP debate.
Image provide to TheBlaze from Synthesio.
A representative from Synthesio told TheBlaze individuals between 25- and 34-years-old generated the most buzz online during the debate.
