Despite surpassing Donald Trump as the Republican presidential front-runner nationally and in several early primary states, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson remains tied with the billionaire in the battleground state of Virginia.

According to a poll released Monday evening by the University of Mary Washington's Center for Leadership and Media Studies, the two GOP hopefuls are both backed by 18 percent of right-leaning voters in Virginia. At 10 percent support, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio comes in third behind the two outsider candidates and is the only other Republican to score double-digit support.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie rounds out the top four with 7 percent support while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tie for fifth at 6 percent each.

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In hypothetical matchups between Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who's floated the idea of an independent bid after exiting the Democratic field in late October, and a handful Republican candidates, Carson performed the best in the Old Dominion.

Carson currently beats Clinton 41-38 percent in a general election match-up with Webb earning 13 percent. When Trump is placed toe-to-toe with Clinton, the former secretary of state edges him by eight percentage points, with 16 percent voters backing Webb. The real estate mogul does slightly better in a match-up against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with Sanders beating him by just one percentage point, 36-35 percent.

The survey of 1,006 Virginia voters — 35 percent of whom identify as Democrats, 33 percent as Republicans and 28 percent as independents — was conducted between Nov. 4-9. Results contain a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. Virginia's presidential primary is schedule for March 1 and voters are allowed to participate in either nominating contest.