Ted Cruz Takes the Lead in GOP Power Rankings

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pushed past GOP presidential primary rival Donald Trump to claim the No. 1 spot in a new weekly poll.

USA Today's Power Rankings, based on the votes of 30 political commentators, shows the Cruz surge from last week continues in the wake of strong polling in Iowa.

Here's the breakdown, followed by each of the candidate's positions from the previous week. There was a tie for the fifth position in the rankings.

1. Cruz (2)
2. Trump (1)
3. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (3)
4. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (5)
5. (T) Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson (4)
6. (T) Former Florida Jeb Bush (6)
7. Ohio Gov. John Kasich (7)
8. Former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina (8)
9. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (9)
10. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (10)
11. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (11)
12. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (12)
13. Former New York Gov. George Pataki (13)
14. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore (14)

Christie's leap to fourth place is his highest rank ever in the weekly survey, USA Today reports.

"Ted Cruz surges to the top in the Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers and gains momentum in national polls," Iowa State University's Dianne Bystrom tells USA Today. "Chris Christie regains the main debate stage . . . and is a contender in New Hampshire. Trump is still holding strong . . . Ben Carson continuing to fall."

Republican digital consultant Phil Musser tells the newspaper that Cruz's rush to the top "signals consolidation in the evangelical/social wing of the party."

"That's important and will power him to the final four," Musser tells the newspaper.

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