Cruz is now towering over the whole field at 31 percent, while Trump has fallen 10 points behind the Texas Senator to 21 percent.
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But for the next 50 days, Cruz and Trump appear to be barreling toward a tough fight for first place in the Hawkeye State.
Carson fares worst in this poll, having dropped 15 points from the October poll.
Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson had led in most other polls taken in recent months.
Cruz moved quickly Friday to smooth things over by taking aim at one of his favorite targets: the Republican elite.
Trump has often derided the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s largest newspaper, as biased against him.
Carson led in the poll as recently as October 23, when he carried 28 percent support in the state.
And there are signs Cruz may not have peaked in Iowa yet. Cruz hits 51% support when first- and second-choice interest is combined, again leading the field.
Drawing a contrast with less well-resourced candidates, Cruz often told reporters that he did not view Iowa as a “must win”, stressing that he could run a nationally-focused campaign. Cruz’s second smart approach was to lay low as Trump ascended to the very top of the surveys.
Cruz has so far escaped Trump’s ire by playing nice with the famously combative billionaire, but last night Cruz was secretly recorded questioning Trump’s judgement at a closed-door fundraiser. “But with the ethanol, really it’s – he’s got to come a long way cause he’s right now for the oil”.
While Republican voters were most likely to say they were excited (24 percent) or optimistic (41 percent), a full one-third of Republicans say they are concerned or scared about Mr. Trump. The 2008 race was somewhere between those two.
“Three Republicans are tied at 3 percent: Paul, a watchdog for government overreach; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a torchbearer for Christian conservative morals; and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a self-proclaimed messenger of hard truths”, Jacobs wrote.
The results of the poll in its entirety were released Thursday evening.
The poll, which was conducted from December 7 to 10, surveyed 400 likely Republican caucus participants.
During his remarks, Trump stressed the importance of winning the state.
Most Americans don’t have much affection for Donald Trump. “Now he is paying the price”. “Christie got an endorsement from this insane newspaper up there”, said Trump. Evangelical voters have an outsize role in Iowa’s Republican electorate.
Cruz has taken some knocks at Cher as well.
On the state fairgrounds at a campaign event, Donald Trump wasted little time before he went after Ted Cruz’s stance on ethanol. And Cruz has sky-high image numbers. Trump fired back Friday morning with a series of tweeted taunts, breaking a long-held detente between the two.
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But Trump, now that his political soulmate poses a threat, had no such qualms.
