Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton lead respective parties in US poll

WASHINGTON: Real estate magnate Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continue to be the top choice of Republican and Democratic voters in the race for their respective parties' nomination for the US presidential election, a major opinion poll has said.

Trump (46 per cent) has been leading the three-man Republican race with a huge 20 percentage point over Senator Ted Cruz (26 per cent).

Ohio Governor John Kasich is placed third with 20 per cent point, according to the poll conducted by CNN/ORG.

As per the CNN/ORC poll, Trump would bring the most excitement if he were the nominee, with 40 per cent of Republican and GOP-leaning independents saying they would be enthusiastic with him as the nominee.

As many as 47 per cent of Republicans say they'd most like to see Trump win their party's nomination, about the same as the 49 per cent who said they would be most likely to support him in February.

Cruz follows at 31 per cent, with Kasich the preferred choice of 17 per cent of GOP voters.

In the Democratic party, Clinton continues to top Bernie Sanders in the race for nomination, with 51 per cent saying they'd most like to see her the nominee.

On the other hand, 44 per cent want to see Sanders lead the Democrats in the November election.