Walker falls to 10th in Iowa in latest poll

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s support in Iowa continues its free fall as fellow presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Ben Carson remain ahead of the Republican pack by double digits, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll. 

Walker, the former front-runner, tumbles to 10th place in the GOP presidential pack just two months after taking the top spot in the university’s July poll. Then, he had 18 percent support, compared to just 3 in the new poll.

{mosads}As governor of a neighboring state, Walker had long been thought to be the presumptive leader in Iowa. But his support has steadily dropped since Trump entered the race in late June. 

The new numbers underscore the slide that Walker has seen across the board. He has dropped below former business executive Carly Fiorina for fifth place in the five most recent Iowa polls, just a hair above former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.). He’s in seventh place nationally and in the second presidential nominating state of New Hampshire. 

In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Walker was only ahead of Gov. Bobby Jindal (La.), who received 2 percent support; Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), former Gov. Rick Perry (Texas), and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Penn.), all of whom received 1 percent support, and former Gov. Jim Gilmore (Va.) and former Gov. George Pataki (N.Y.), who did not register in the poll. 

By contrast, outsiders Trump and Carson continue to have a dominant hold on the polls. Real estate mogul Trump showed 27 percent support, while retired neurosurgeon Carson received 21 percent, well ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), who received 9 percent support.

If Trump was not in the race, Carson is the second choice of a vast plurality of Trump voters, with 30 percent backing him. Cruz is the second choice of 11 percent of Trump voters.

“The Iowa Republican Caucus looks like a two-man race in which the Washington experience that has traditionally been a major measuring stick that voters have used to choose candidates is now a big negative,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. 

“With five months until the balloting, anything can happen. But the field has become a two-tiered contest — Donald Trump and Ben Carson ahead and everyone else far behind,” he said. 

Carson tops the field in support from white, born-again Evangelical voters, very conservative voters and female voters. Trump wins with Tea Party, male and younger voters, and trails Carson by just one point with females despite his controversial comments about women. 

While Trump cleans up with an 11 percent lead with voters with no college degree, he finishes just three points behind Carson for the lead with college-educated voters. 

Carson has an overwhelming lead in net favorability, almost 20 percentage points higher than Fiorina, who place second. Despite the slide, Walker still holds the fourth highest net favorability rating in the state, behind Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Fiorina and Carson. 

Bush and Christie are the only candidates who will be on the main stage at the second GOP debate next week who have negative net favorability scores. 

The field has an overwhelming preference for outsider candidates, as 79 percent said they would rather have an outsider instead of a candidate with Washington experience. 

Sixty-five percent said they preferred a candidate whose views closely aligned with theirs instead of one that gives the party the best chance to defeat the Democrats. 

After third place Cruz, Bush came in fourth at 6 percent, followed by Fiorina, Gov. John Kasich (Ohio) and Rubio all at 5 percent support, with former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.) and Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) finishing at 4 percent, 1 percentage point above Walker.