WASHINGTON — There appears to be a new GOP front-runner in Iowa.
Sen. Ted Cruz more than doubled his support among Iowa Republicans since October and now leads the field with 24%, according to a new Monmouth University Poll released today.
It is the first time the Texas senator has been at the top of any early state poll of the 2016 cycle, according to Monmouth.
After Cruz, the poll shows Donald Trump at 19%, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 17%, Ben Carson at 13%, former Florida governor Jeb Bush at 6%, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at 4%. Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were each at 3%, and the rest of field was under 2%.
Pollsters say the Cruz surge is at the expense of Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who led the field in Iowa just two months ago with 32%.
"As Ben Carson's stock has fallen, Cruz has been able to corral most of those voters," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute in New Jersey.
Rubio was the other big mover in the new Monmouth poll. He went from 10% in October to 17% in December.
Evangelical voters, a major force in the Iowa GOP caucuses, have shifted away from Carson and toward Cruz, the poll shows. Just two months ago, 36% of the evangelical vote was with Carson and 12% with Cruz. In December, 30% picked Cruz and 15% picked Carson.
The independent poll was conducted Dec. 3-6 of Iowa voters who say they are likely to attend the Republican presidential caucuses in February. It has a margin of error of 4.8%.
Republicans in Iowa, however, are far from settled. Only 20% say they have completely decided on their choice for the GOP nomination. Another 49% say they have a strong preference, and the rest are either undecided or only have a slight preference.
