Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has a commanding lead in a poll of Iowa Republican caucus-goers while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush comes in a distant seventh among a large field of potential contenders.
According to a
Quinnipiac University poll conducted April 25 to May 4 of 667 likely Iowa Republican Caucus participants:
- Walker: 21 percent
- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul: 13 percent
- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: 13 percent
- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz: 12 percent
- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: 11 percent
- Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson: 7 percent
- Bush: 5 percent
No other candidate surveyed has higher than 3 percent.
In what may be worse news for Bush, he has the highest percentage of likely caucus-goers saying they would definitely not support him at 25 percent.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comes in a close second with 20 percent saying they would definitely not support him.
"The first few months of the Iowa Republican caucus race show Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as the early leader. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, on the strength of an impressive candidacy roll out, has moved from the bottom of the pack into a tie for second," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, in a statement.
"Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has yet to formalize his candidacy while he amasses what most expect to be a massive fund-raising lead, runs seventh with just 5 percent of the vote."
Rubio has the highest favorability ratings of the Republican pack, with 69 percent saying they see him favorably and 65 percent saying his positions on the issues are "about right."
Walker has a 59 percent favorability rating with 62 percent saying they feel he is "about right" on the issues.
Bush and Christie face more bad news when it comes to favorability ratings. Bush has a negative 39 percent favorability rating while Christie has a negative 32 percent rating.
"More of those surveyed view Bush unfavorably than favorably, compared to Walker's 5-1 positive ratio. And 45 percent say Bush is not conservative enough. It's among the GOP conservative base that Bush finds himself trailing Sen. Ted Cruz, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Rand Paul," Brown said.
"For national unknowns like Walker and Rubio, a fast start in Iowa may be critical to their chances of overall success, while supporters of national names like Bush note that fewer than half of Iowa winners wind up inhabiting the Oval Office."