Story highlights Ted Cruz has inched ahead of Donald Trump in a new national poll released Wednesday

The poll also found voters split on whether the Senate should vote this year on a Supreme Court nominee

Washington (CNN) Ted Cruz has inched ahead of Donald Trump in a new national poll released Wednesday, the first national poll of the 2016 cycle that shows the Texas senator on top of the Republican field.

Cruz has the backing of 28% of Republican voters nationwide, unseating Trump, who won the support of 26% in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

But Cruz's 2-point edge is within the poll's margin of error, and it's not clear if the survey captures real movement in the race or is simply an outlier.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio comes in third with 17% support, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 11%, Ben Carson at 10% and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in last place with 4%.

The results are a major change from last month's NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll , when Trump held a 13-point lead over Cruz, 33% to 20%.

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