A new poll of likely Iowa Republican presidential caucus goers finds a wide-open field with three candidates vying for the top spot and a plurality undecided. Scott Walker, the governor of neighboring Wisconsin, leads the latest poll from Loras College, earning 12.6 percent support. Florida senator Marco Rubio, who declared his candidacy earlier this month, is close behind with 10 percent, while former Florida governor Jeb Bush has 9.6 percent.
Both Walker and Rubio have doubled their support from the January Loras poll, according to a press release from the college.
Respondents were also asked about their second choice for president, and 20.7 percent listed Walker as either their first or second choice, while 19.2 percent listed Rubio and 18.8 percent listed Bush.
Many Republicans don’t appear wedded to any candidate just yet, with 22.8 percent telling pollsters they are undecided. The rest of the candidates aren’t much more behind the top three. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, comes in fourth place with 8.6 percent support. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, and neurosurgeon Ben carson, all received just over six percent support, while the rest of the large slate of candidates—Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, and Carly Fiorina—received five percent or less. South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham received zero percent support.
While there appears to be an openness to most of the Republican candidates, a significant percentage of poll respondents said they would “absolutely not” vote for Donald Trump (22.2 percent), Jeb Bush (20.4 percent), and Chris Christie (16.7 percent) in the caucuses next January. No other candidates, the press release said, received more than seven percent on this question.
Read the full details of the poll here.
