Trump and Cruz
Trump and CruzReuters

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz leads Donald Trump by two points among Republican voters, according to a national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday and cited by The Hill.

Trump had held the top spot in the previous 31 consecutive national polls, posting a double-digit lead in all but four. In last month's NBC poll, Trump held a 13-point lead over Cruz.

But the latest poll finds that the Texas senator has 28 percent support, with Trump at 26 percent. Marco Rubio follows, with 17 percent in the poll.

John Kasich is in fourth place, with 11 percent, and Ben Carson has 10 percent. Jeb Bush, meanwhile, is far behind the rest of the field, in sixth place with 4 percent.

Cruz also leads Trump by 16 points in a head-to-head match-up, noted The Hill.

The result is a major coup for Cruz on a day marked by deepening in tensions between the two leading GOP contenders as they prepare for Saturday's South Carolina primary.

A poll released on Tuesday found that Trump is leading the way in South Carolina's Republican primary, with a broad 16-point lead among those likely to vote in the state.