Gov. Scott Walker has opened a commanding lead among likely Iowa caucusgoers, a new poll by Quinnipiac University has found.
Walker receives a 25 percent share of support in the survey, which was released Wednesday. That result nearly doubles the support of the next-strongest Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, who polled at 13 percentage points.
“Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is taking the Republican political world by storm,” said Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Peter Brown. “He’s gone from being unknown outside Wisconsin to the hot candidate, poised to become the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.”
Rounding out the top five in the poll are former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson with 11 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 10 percent.
Helping boost Walker to his strong showing among Iowa Republicans is a 57 percent favorability rating among likely caucus participants, compared to just 7 percent unfavorability. Bush’s favorability, by contrast, is evenly split, with 41 percent of Republicans reporting favorable impressions, and 40 percent perceiving him unfavorably.
The survey suggests a tough slog ahead in Iowa in particular for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has encountered some challenges in the lead-up to his likely presidential campaign. His favorability among Iowa Republicans is currently just 30 percent, according to the poll, compared to 54 percent unfavorability.
The poll was conducted from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23, surveying by phone 623 Republicans who are likely to participate in the Iowa Caucus early next year. The margin of error was 3.9 percent.
