Cruz’s rise marks a 21 percent improvement from the same poll taken in mid-October.
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Several attendees at Trump’s town hall event said in interviews before he spoke that they were torn between supporting Trump and Cruz, underscoring the risks each man faces going after the other too strongly.
On the state fairgrounds at a campaign event, Donald Trump wasted little time before he went after Ted Cruz’s stance on ethanol.
The Des Monies poll comes just days after Cruz was endorsed by “kingmaker” Robert Vander Plaats, who commands the confidence of a swathe of evangelical voters in Iowa. Dr. Ben Carson saw his poll numbers continue to ebb, capturing third but only with 13 percent support. The former Florida governor’s negatives are the highest among GOP candidates, with 54 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers viewing Bush unfavorably, Bloomberg said.
Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie all are tied with 3%.
The rest of the field is at 2% or less, including Carly Fiorina, a public officerookie who leans on her experience as a technology company CEO, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who stresses his longtime government experience and competence.
“I’m a Presbyterian”, Trump said, speaking in Des Moines, Iowa. This time, Trump was setting the stage for what he expected to be a bad poll from the paper, released on Saturday night.
Move over Donal Trump, there’s a new conservative firebrand on top in Iowa. Everyone else way down!
Trump also took to Twitter, but cited his lead in the CNN/ORC poll released Monday that had him ahead in Iowa.
“I think this is, this is really the fruits of work that we have been doing for eight months now, systematically doing the long slow steady work of building a grassroots army”, Cruz said in SC. Mr. Cruz has won the endorsement of Representative Steve King of Iowa, an ethanol champion.
The Iowa caucuses will be held on February 1, followed by the New Hampshire Primaries on February 20 the South Carolina GOP primary on February 20.
But much can change during the next seven weeks, for better or for worse.
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The Donald Trump phenomenon has exposed many an uncomfortable truth about America in 2015, including the degree to which his message of white resentment and nativist exclusion sells like hotcakes to Republican voters and beyond. The percentage of likely caucusgoers who have a positive view of Cruz is now 73%, up 12 points from October, including 43% who have a very favorable impression. Trump has led most polls there, but one poll from Monmouth University this week showed Cruz with a small lead.
