Presidential polls 2016 update: Donald Trump leads Republican race; Clinton more likely to beat Trump than Sanders

Republican U.S. presidential candidates businessman Donald Trump (L) and Senator Ted Cruz speak simultaneously at the Fox Business Network Republican presidential candidates debate in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Jan. 14, 2016.Reuters

Donald Trump is still taking the lead in the Republican presidential polls with 20 points ahead of the next candidate, a new survey from CNN/WMUR shows.

Conducted between Jan. 13 to 18 via landline and mobile phone, the poll surveyed 972 likely Republican voters and found that Trump garnered 34 percent of the votes while the candidate next in line, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has 14 percent.

Following the two top contenders are Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both in the third place with 10 percent each. Far behind with single digit ratings are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, all having six percent each; former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina with four percent; retired neurosurgeon and former frontrunner Ben Carson with three percent; and former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, with only one percent.

The poll also asked surveyors if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the candidates. For the leading candidates, Trump had 54 percent of people saying they have a favorable opinion about him and 40 percent think unfavorably of him. On the other hand, Cruz had higher ratings as 55 percent and 30 percent think of him favorably and unfavorably, respectively.

When it comes to how firm Republican voters are with their bets, the poll shows that only 31 percent of them are "definitely decided."

Trump continues to dominate the Republican polls, but when he's put side by side with Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, the latter is said to have a better chance at winning, according to a Monmouth University poll.

The Tuesday poll results showed that 44 percent believe that Clinton has higher chances of defeating Trump in the race, while only 16 percent think that her rival, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, would beat the real estate mogul.

As for Cruz, 39 percent said that Clinton can beat him, while 17 percent believe Sanders has better chances.