Dan Nowicki

The Republic | azcentral.com

Donald Trump continues to top the Republican field in Arizona ahead of the state's March 22 presidential preference election, according to a new poll from Phoenix-based MBQF Consulting.

The automated telephonic survey of 751 "high efficacy primary Republican voters," conducted March 8 includes voters who have already cast early ballots and those who are planning to vote.

Trump, the celebrity billionaire and national GOP front-runner, has 37.3 percent, the poll shows. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is second at 23.3 percent, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 14.6 percent and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 11.6 percent.

Another 10.4 percent were unsure or undecided, and 2.8 percent preferred a candidate who wasn't listed.

The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.57 percentage points.

"With early voting already underway in Arizona, Donald Trump leads with both those voters that have already cast ballots as well as among those that are still planning on voting," pollster Michael Noble said in a written statement released with the poll results.

This is the first presidential cycle that MBQF Consulting has polled.

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Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki and on his official Facebook page.