A new poll indicates that Donald Trump has regained a slight lead in Iowa, with Ted Cruz very close behind and Ben Carson moving down.
Trump is at 25% in the Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, followed by Cruz at 23% and Carson at 18%. Marco Rubio, at 13%, is the only other Republican in double digits.
An Oct. 22 poll by Quinnipiac had Carson in the lead with 28%, followed by Trump (20%), Rubio (13%) and Cruz (10%).
“Last month, we said it was Dr. Ben Carson’s turn in the spotlight,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Today, the spotlight turns to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.”
The Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, the first contest for the Republican presidential nomination, has become “a two-tiered” affair, Brown said.
“Businessman Donald Trump and neurosurgeon Ben Carson lead on the outsider track, and Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Florida) lead among party insiders,” he said.
The poll also pointed out that many Iowa Republicans could change their minds before Feb. 1.
Brown noted that “winning Iowa is no guarantee of success elsewhere. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the 2008 caucus and former Sen. Rick Santorum took the 2012 crown, yet both were quickly gone from those nomination fights as the primary calendar moved to larger states.”
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