With less than a week until Republicans caucus in Iowa, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are in a dead heat.
In the latest Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday, Trump gets 31 percent of the vote in Iowa, while Cruz has 29 percent, the same figures as the university’s last such poll released Jan. 11.
This is a good sign for the Texas senator, who has been at the brunt of attacks from Trump in the weeks since Cruz passed him in an average of Iowa polls in mid-December. However, Cruz has slipped from the high he held in early January in the same group of Iowa polls.
Meanwhile, Rubio continues to lag behind. With 13 percent, the Florida senator is in a distant third place, and down from the 15 percent he had two weeks ago.
All other GOP candidates polled in the single digits: Ben Carson had 7 percent, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul had 5 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had 4 percent. Other candidates polled below the margin of error, while 2 percent of Iowa Republican voters said they are still undecided.
Two-thirds of those asked (67 percent) said they participated in the previous Iowa caucuses, while 33 percent this would be their first time. For those who have previously caucused, Cruz holds a three-point advantage (31 percent to 28 percent) over Trump, while first-time participants choose Trump over Cruz (37 percent to 25 percent).
Of those who have picked a candidate, nearly six in 10 (59 percent) said they have made up their mind, while four in 10 (39 percent) said that they might switch from who they currently support to someone else. Among supporters of both Trump and Cruz, 69 percent each said they have made up their mind, while 29 percent and 30 percent, respectively, indicated they could be persuaded to vote for someone else.
The telephone survey of 651 likely Republican Iowa caucus participants was conducted Jan. 18-24 and carries a margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
