Donald Trump is back in the lead in Iowa, according to a new
CBS News GOP poll, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has replaced Ben Carson in second place, with the retired neurosurgeon slipping into third place.
By the numbers:
- Trump, 30 percent;
- Cruz, 21 percent;
- Carson, 19 percent;
- Sen. Marco Rubio, 11 percent;
- Jeb Bush, 5 percent;
- Carly Fiorina, 4 percent;
- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, tied at 2 percent;
- Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, 1 percent;
- Jim Gilmore, Sen. Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, zero.
The Iowa poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 6.2 percent.
Meanwhile, in New Hampshire Trump kept up a commanding lead of nearly 20 points over his nearest challenger, Rubio, who pushed into second place past Carson and Cruz:
- Trump, 32 percent;
- Rubio, 13 percent;
- Carson and Cruz, 10 percent;
- Kasich, 8 percent;
- Bush, Fiorina, and Paul, 6 percent;
- Christie, 5 percent;
- Santorum, Graham, and Huckabee, 1 percent;
- Gilmore, Pataki, and Jindal, zero.
Rubio continued to draw mixed reviews on whether he's ready to be president, reports CBS, but he still came out ahead of Bush and Carson. The poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 6.3 percent.
One consultant, Douglas Gross, who served as finance chair for Romney in Iowa four years ago, said the race is "Cruz's to lose" once "Trump and Carson's descent becomes more rapid," reports
Politico.
"He has the best opportunity and if he can get a good share of the Christian conservatives and the tea party, that should be enough to win right there. His only real competition is Rubio, whose challenge is to take some of the evangelical right and become the mainstream candidate for the establishment Republicans.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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