Ted Cruz opens 10% lead over Donald Trump in Iowa
Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz has surged past businessman Donald Trump in a new Iowa poll, opening up a 10-point lead in the first voting state in the United States.
In a poll released on Saturday night by Bloomberg and the Des Moines Register, the Texas senator had the support of 31 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers, while Trump stood at 21 percent.
The survey represented a 21 percent jump for Cruz in two months since the last Register poll.
Cruz and Trump will face off on Tuesday in Las Vegas at the next Republican presidential debate, sponsored by CNN.
The poll came at a crucial time when Trump is hoping that a win in Iowa would be a catalyst for securing the Republican nomination. Iowa caucuses will open in less than two months.
“If we win Iowa, I think we run the table,” the real estate mogul said on Friday at a rally in Des Moines.
Cruz and Trump were followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 13 percent and Florida Senator Marco Rubio at 10 percent.
Carson suffered a major collapse since October when he received the support of 28 percent of likely Republican voters.
Nationwide, Trump continues to hold onto his lead in the GOP field at 35 percent, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.
Carson was second, with 13 percent, followed by Cruz and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, both at 10 percent.
Trump, whose campaign has been marked by controversy from the start, sparked a firestorm on Monday by calling for a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 41 percent of Republican voters believe Trump’s rhetoric would hurt his chances in the election.
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