Texas senator Ted Cruz has taken the lead in a new poll of likely Republican voters in Iowa. The Monmouth University poll has Cruz with 24 percent support in the Hawkeye State, overtaking Donald Trump (at 19 percent). In a close third is Florida senator Marco Rubio, with onetime Iowa leader Ben Carson sinking to fourth place at 13 percent.
According to Monmouth, Cruz has a plurality of support from evangelicals at 30 percent, with Trump, Rubio, and Carson splitting the rest of that vote 18 percent, 16 percent, and 15 percent.
Among the developments helping Cruz, according to the poll, is his endorsement from Republican congressman Steve King. Nineteen percent of those likely caucusgoers say the King endorsement makes them a lot or a little more likely to support Cruz.
This is the first poll of Iowa Republicans since October to not show Trump in the lead. The Iowa caucuses will be held February 1.
