Donald Trump’s lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Iowa appears to be growing, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey conducted in partnership with Progress Iowa, a left-leaning advocacy group.
Trump finished first with the support of 31 percent of those surveyed by PPP, followed by Cruz at 23 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 14 and Ben Carson at 9. All other candidates failed to earn 5 percent in the poll.
Trump gained three percentage points and Cruz lost three points since PPP’s previous Iowa poll. The poll had a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
“Donald Trump’s the clear leader in Iowa at this point,” said PPP President Dean Debnam. “The big question is whether enough supporters of the also-rans will move to Ted Cruz and/or Marco Rubio to allow them to exceed expectations on election night.”
Debnam may delight in Trump’s advantage, but the poll’s crosstabs appear to show a race coming down to the wire. Trump and Cruz are tied at 29 percentage point support among evangelicals, a voting bloc that could deliver the Hawkeye State for either candidate.
Cruz’s favorability rating also seems to have taken a hit, and PPP speculates that it could be traced to Trump’s focus on the “Canadian birther” issue. PPP found Cruz’s favorability rating drop from 69 percentage points favorable and 18 points unfavorable, to 56 points favorable and 35 points unfavorable.
Cruz will appear in Iowa on Thursday’s primetime debate stage in Iowa. Trump, following in the footsteps of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, has chosen to skip the debate, citing his displeasure with Fox News personality Megyn Kelly, one of the debate’s moderators, among his many complaints with the cable television network.
