A new survey of “usual Republican primary voters” in Iowa finds Donald Trump still holds a commanding lead on the Republican field of presidential candidates, but Carly Fiorina has shot up in the polls. Public Policy Polling released a post-debate Iowa survey on Monday, which showed Fiorina polling among the top five Republican presidential candidates.
Trump leads with the support of 19 percent of those surveyed, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 12 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 11 percent, and Fiorina at 10 percent. When those same respondents were asked to name their second choice, Walker and Fiorina came out on top at 11 percentage points, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was hot on their heels at 10 percentage points.
RealClearPolitics’ average of Iowa polls leading up to the debate showed Fiorina receiving the support of fewer than three percent of GOP voters.
Fiorina’s upward mobility in the polls is not limited to Iowa. A NBC/SurveyMonkey poll conducted after the first GOP presidential debate showed Fiorina had moved into fourth place nationally, and that a plurality of respondents thought she won the debate. Fiorina did not appear on the primetime debate stage with the top ten highest polling candidates on Thursday, but her performance at the “kids table” debate, sandwiched between former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, was a success.
Fiorina has received widespread praise in the media for her debate performance, and was well received at the RedState Gathering of conservative activists in Atlanta, Ga., this weekend. Fiorina will head to Iowa on the campaign trail later this week.
