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.
I think he won NH too, then Reagan exploded.
okay smart guy....follow the dollars for me. I know where the dollars mostly come from, and it AINT K STREET.
I’ll interpret your response as admission that I am right.
I think Trump is the frontrunner for now, but that could very well change. Especially if someone other than him wins Iowa.
He’s not ready.
.
GOPe will never ‘pick’ Cruz, they are simply being overwhelmed.
At first they cheered Trump, cuz they mistakenly believed that he would derail Cruz and blow away.
They guessed wrong, obviously.
He sure had some convenient votes for GOPe...and then when the legislation was safe from defeat he switched his vote and started slamming the “washington cartel”.
Actions speak louder than a lawyer talking.
Umm..this is hilarious.
Trump hasn’t even started to fight. On coverage alone he’s gotten this far.
He can self fund a billion to run. Doesn’t need to beg.
Currently he’s letting the other guys spend all their cash trying to run him down. All they are doing is emptying their accounts, and he knows it.
He will not put an idiot crony in charge of his cash like Romney did. The money will come out and be spent effectively on a well organized campaign.
And he will do that with the others already out of cash, and we haven’t gotten to the general election.
Cruz is aiming for Veep. That’s fine. Young guy, needs credentials. Like getting past the fact that he was born in Calgary. If anyone thinks the Rats are gonna give him a pass on that because of Obama, they’re nuts.
And that’s the way it izzz, folks. In the system we have now, the man with the cash goes the distance.
heh heh
It was easy to predict the MSM was going to ‘discover’ Cruz’ support when it fit their narrative. They did the same with Carson. Cruz has had strong support in Iowa from before he announced, and has a strong ground game.
Cruz might be a very slight favorite. A boisterous New Yorker of any persuasion was always going to be a tough sell to Iowans. Ask Rudy Giuliani.
.
>> “He’s not ready.” <<
.
Troll-a-roll-a-rolla, Troll-a-roll-a-roo...
.
“Sigh. First the Fiorina ‘surge.’ Then the Carxon ‘surge.’ Now the Cruz ‘surge.†Any surge the GOPe can get to derail Trump.”
Meh.
Just let them have their one poll to jump around and crow and be self-righteously assured that they are the “true conservatives” ordained by God to be victorious... for as long as it takes for another poll to come out.
They are banking on butt-kissing Iowans as the thing that will totally win the nomination....because (reasons).
Hey it worked for Roberson, Huckabee, and Sanatorium.
I love the smell of fear.
Did you read Quayle’s story on breitbart yesterday? Trump talked to GHWB, wanted to be his VP.
Who knows.
Lookee here...... One can campaign proactively against leftists, 0bama, Hillary, radical islamic terrorists, and for average Americans, and rise to the top.
Do you believe that Cruz is the “GOPe”?
.
Trump would waste his time to fight.
It is his own insurmountable negatives that have defeated him, not Ted Cruz.
Cruz has called out only Rubio, for his lies.
Both Cruz and Trump are quite acceptable to me.
I prefer Cruz.
But I can totally live with Trump.
Nope, thanks. Like you say, who knows. Whatever agreement Trump and Cruz have, it seems to be working. That’s the important thing. :-)
+1
You know I’m not a troll.
I just don’t support Cruz.
.
Roberson, Huckabee, and Sanatorium didn’t declare war on Ethanol.
They just Cream-of-Wheated their way through.
Think and understand.
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