This poll is a couple days old but worth flagging for a number of reasons. It is the first time that Ben Carson has rocketed into the top position which he is sharing with Donald Trump. Carson had arguably some of the most memorable and moving lines at the first Republican debate which have served in giving him a serious bump in the polls.
Report from CNN:
For the first time in more than a month, mogul Donald Trump is not leading the field in one of the first four nominating states in the Republican primary, according to a new poll.
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson has surged up in the pack to tie Trump in Iowa, Monmouth University found in a poll out Monday.
Trump and Carson are tied at 23%, according to the survey, making it the first time since July 26 that a poll in the first four states to select a Republican nominee did not find Trump substantially ahead of all other candidates.
Farther behind Trump and Carson were former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, at 10%; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, at 9%; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, at 7%; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, at 5%; Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, each at 4%; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, at 3%; and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, at 2%. No other candidates topped 1%.
The breakdown:
23% – Carson, Trump (tied)
10% – Fiorina
9% – Cruz
7% – Walker
5% – Bush
4% – Kasich, Rubio (tied)
3% – Paul
2% – Huckabee, Santorum (tied)
The biggest takeaway is how quickly Scott Walker has tumbled from leading in Iowa for months to nearly falling out of the top tier. The same for Jeb Bush who is hovering in the mid single digits. The other thing to note is that the top three names have zero prior political experience and are all billing themselves as “Washington outsiders.” Clearly they’re saying something Republican voters want to hear.
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