Ben Carson has surged past Donald Trump in the US presidential race among Republican candidates, according to a new poll.

Carson, a former neurosurgeon, has the support of 29 percent of likely Republican primary voters, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday.

That's the highest percentage any Republican candidate has obtained so far in the poll.

The survey found that support for Trump is at 23 percent, Marco Rubio at 11 percent, Ted Cruz at 10 percent and Jeb Bush at 8 percent.

These findings are similar to a New York Times/CBS News poll released last week, which also showed Carson leads other GOP candidates in the race for the White House.

The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted from October 25 to 29, before and after last week's third Republican presidential debate hosted by CNBC.

If past surveys have been about billionaire businessman Trump leading the GOP field, "then this survey is about Dr. Ben Carson, who is currently the man to beat for the Republicans," said Democratic pollster Fred Yang, whose firm Hart Research Associates conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff.

"It doesn't mean it is enduring," but it is still noteworthy that many Republicans pick Carson as either their first or second choice, said GOP pollster McInturff.

In addition, 50 percent of Republican voters pick Carson as either their first or second choice in the Republican presidential race, followed by 35 percent for Trump, 24 percent for Rubio and 23 percent for Cruz.

This makes Carson the first GOP candidate in the NBC/WSJ poll to nearly get majority support as either a first or second choice among GOP primary voters.