Ben Carson gains on Donald Trump in new poll

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A new CBS News/New York Times poll found Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson is inching closer to frontrunner Donald Trump while Jeb Bush slipped to third place.

Carson's support has markedly increased since early August, from 6 percent then to 23 percent now, edging him closer to Trump's 27 percent for the Republican nomination in the 2016 election. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has been climbing in the polls while billionaire businessman Trump took a modest gain, up from 24 percent.

Other candidates who have seen significant gains include Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, although both remain in the single digits.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin tumbled to 2 percent from 10 percent. Bush, Florida's former governor, is down from 13 percent in August to 6 percent now. No other candidates fell as much as Bush and Walker. Bush is tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for third place.

Overall, 27 percent of Republican voters said they have made up their minds about which candidate to support as their party's nominee, while 63 percent said it is too early to say. The poll was conducted Sept. 9 to Sept. 13 and has a 6 percentage point margin of error.

Wednesday, Trump and Carson will take center stage at the second Republican nominee debate in Los Angeles on CNN.