Poll: Cruz threatens to overtake Trump in Iowa
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is threatening to overtake Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in Iowa, coming in just two percentage points behind him in a new Quinnipiac poll out Tuesday.
Trump netted 25 percent support among likely Republican caucus participants, while Cruz doubled his support from last month and has reached 23 percent support. Eighteen percent support former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 13 percent.
Carson has seen a huge decline from an Oct. 22 poll, when he attracted 28 percent support, beating Trump's 20 percent, compared to Cruz's 10 percent in that poll. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush did not see improvement, getting 5 percent support last month and 4 percent this month.
Rounding out the Republican field are Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul with 5 percent and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina with 3 percent. No other candidate gets more than 2 percent support from voters.
Cruz's 13-point rise in the last month mirrors the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker released Sunday, which showed Cruz at 21 percent behind Trump, who notched 30 percent, while Carson had 19 percent support.
Cruz appears to be capitalizing on areas where Carson is losing support -- among evangelical voters, Tea Party supports and the most conservative likely Republican caucus goers.
There's more good news for Cruz in a new Gallup survey, which found that his net favorable rating (the difference in the percentage of Republican voters who have a favorable opinion of him and those who have an unfavorable opinion) is at 45. Only Carson and Rubio are more likable among Republican voters, with Carson scoring a net favorability of 49 and Rubio scoring a 48.
Cruz and Rubio both made 9-point gains in their net favorability scores from a similar survey in late October, while Carson's has dropped by 12 points. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has also made strides, seeing his net favorability rise by 14 points. But he had a slower favorability and higher unfavorable rating than candidates like Carson, Cruz and Rubio, and his net favorability stands at just 26 now.