Polls

Carson surges past Trump in Iowa

by Jesse Byrnes - 10/23/15 7:07 AM ET

GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson has plowed past Donald Trump in a second poll of Iowa voters released on Friday.

Carson wins 28 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa, according to the Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll, while Trump gets 19 percent.

{mosads}According to the poll, that represents a 10-point surge for Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, since late August, and a 4-point drop for Trump.

It’s the second poll in as many days showing Carson knocking off the billionaire businessman from the top spot in the Hawkeye State, where the real estate tycoon has led for three months.

Carson beat Trump 28 to 20 percent in a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday.

The results suggest social conservatives in Iowa, long a force in the state’s caucuses, may be gravitating toward Carson.

Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) is in third place in the Bloomberg poll with 10 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) follows with 9 percent, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ties with Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) at 5 percent each.

Carson is the most positively viewed Republican in the field among Iowa Republicans surveyed, with 84 percent viewing him favorably. Rubio follows at 70 percent, with former businesswoman Carly Fiorina close behind at 66 percent.

Carson is also the second-choice candidate among a plurality of Republican respondents, trouncing the GOP field as the combined first or second choice of 47 percent of Iowa caucus-goers.

Trump follows as the combined first or second choice of 28 percent of those surveyed, with Rubio at 20 percent, Cruz at 19 percent and Fiorina at 17 percent.

The latest poll showing a rise for Carson and drop-off for Trump comes ahead of the third GOP presidential debate next week in Colorado.

The Bloomberg poll of 401 likely GOP caucus-goers was conducted Oct. 16 to Oct. 19 with a margin of error of 4.9 points.