Marco Rubio is catching up to the field in the Republican primary race, with a new poll showing the Florida senator slipping past Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in a three-way contest.
In a three-candidate poll, Public Policy Polling finds Rubio with 34 percent, Trump 33, and Cruz 25.
When asked to pick among all the Republicans still running for president, Trump hangs on to the lead with 25 percent. Cruz and Rubio are close behind with 21 percent each. Ben Carson, whose outsider candidacy has faded since the calendar hit 2016, comes in fourth with 11 percent.
“Rubio is the candidate with the real momentum in the race,” PPP’s release states.
The pollster’s data are a substantial shift from similar surveys taken in recent days. An Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP poll from last week found Trump with 31 percent, Cruz with 21 and Rubio with 10. Other measures from ABC News and CNN showed Trump with an even larger advantage, and Rubio with a similarly small percentage of the vote.
The PPP poll, however, is the first national survey conducted entirely after the Iowa caucuses.
Full results are here.
