Posted on 12/07/2015 9:54:00 AM PST by Isara
Sen. Ted Cruz has surged past Donald Trump in Iowa with less than two months to go before the nation's first nominating contest, giving Cruz his first lead in any early voting state during the campaign.
A Monmouth University poll said Cruz has 24 percent support among likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa, a 14-point jump for the Texas senator since October.
Trump won 19 percent in the poll, giving Cruz a 5 percent lead that's outside the margin of error.
Much of Cruz's support stems from evangelical Iowans who back the conservative senator 30 percent to Trump's 18 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson previously led the GOP field in support among this coveted demographic, but now earns just 15 percent support among evangelicals, putting him behind Cruz, Trump, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (16 percent).
Cruz also carries a substantial lead among voters affiliated with the Tea Party. The freshman senator earns 36 percent support compared to Trump (20 percent), Carson (17 percent) and Rubio (11 percent).
Cruz's rise can also be attributed, in part, to his recent endorsement from Iowa Rep. Steve King. Roughly 20 percent of Republicans in the Hawkeye State said King's support makes them more inclined to back Cruz come Feb. 1, including 7 percent who claim King's endorsement makes them "a lot more likely."
Rubio has met with some difficulties while trying to woo Tea Party supporters after his role in the 2013 Gang of Eight immigration bill, which proposed a 13-year pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States. While that bill damaged his reputation among the hard-line conservative movement, the Florida senator leads the GOP field among women in Iowa with 23 percent support.
That support helped keep Rubio in third place in the poll. He follows right behind Trump's 19 percent with 17 percent in the poll. Carson, who had a commanding lead in Iowa less than two months ago, has plummeted to 13 percent. At 6 percent support, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is the only other Republican contender to poll above 5 percent.
According to the poll, Rubio is the most-liked Republican candidate in Iowa, as 70 percent of voters hold a positive view of the Florida senator. Cruz and Carson each boast a net-positive favorability rating of 67-19 percent, while Trump is viewed favorably by 54 percent of voters and unfavorably by 36 percent. Bush, meanwhile, has a net-negative favorability rating of 38-45 percent.
The New-Jersey based survey of 425 likely Republican caucus-goers was conducted between Dec. 3-6 and contains a margin of error plus or minus 4.8 percent.
Well its frustrating when your candidate is just not winning. You just don’t want to accept reality. I understand. Its hard to accept that Cruz good guy that he is is just not getting the traction. He’s just not going to be the GOP nominee and he’s not going to be President but hopefully he will be VP or AG.
If popularity were my only guide, I might have supported Bill Clinton, Obama and Hilary. It isn’t.
I like Trump. I like Cruz. I THINK Trump has a better chance to win. Purely a hunch based on what I’ve seen so far.
Both could be excellent presidents. In different ways.
Boy, Cruz defenders have messenger bodies littering the streets. Give me a quote or an article or anything that says he would deport illegals, anything.
Stop being an idiot!
There is no database from which “illegals” can be extracted for deportation.
Cruz has constantly pledged to enforce all of the laws. That means deport when they are encountered.
There is no constitutional authority whereby we can go door to door seeking illegals, and the massive bank of leftist judges that Trump so admires will go out of their way to block any effort.
The Cruz way is the only way. Enforce, jail employers, and they will leave on their own as their wealth dwindles.
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No Dem has won the election with 63% of the vote. Trump beats Hillary by a lot!
Rabbis nationwide endorse Cruz
The tidal wave is building!
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Trump will lose by 63%
Actually he won’t even get the chance. The 63% will cut him off in the primaries.
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Cruz is the only one left the GOPe will settle on when they think Trump might win.
He takes that big donor money. To the GOPe, that is a stablizer.
Must Cruz supporter always resort to name-calling?
You don’t need a database to deport, just walk into a Target in San Diego (my home town) and you can nab a few hundred right out of the gate. My home town is now a sanctuary city btw.
But if Trump only does what he says and deports the bad guys and the ones we’re currently paying for in our prisons, it would be more than any of the others including Cruz.
I keep saying Cruz is my 2nd choice but by damn, you people are talking me out of it.
What? are we electing a Rabbi In Chief? Or are we elcting an American President?
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Yes, it definitely will be:
National Coalition of Rabbis Endorse Ted Cruz for President
The Tsunami is building! .
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We are electing Ted Cruz, obviously.
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>> “Cruz is the only one left the GOPe will settle on when they think Trump might win.” <<
The big boys know Trump can’t win.
Their worry is that their boy can’t either.
the won’t support Cruz, but when push comes to shove, they will vote for him.
They like having the chairman’s offices, and that will be retained by the Cruz Tsunami.
33% for Trump and 20% for Cruz is a Tsunami but not in the direction you are hoping for. :-)
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>> “You don’t need a database to deport” <<
Oh yes you do!
The injunctions will come flying off the benches if anyone tries dragnet techniques.
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No one has endorsed Trump.
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I always discount you because you are a troll that never quits trolling.
Who’s going to win the R primary?
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And the objective poll has Cruz in front.
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Cruz, of course.
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