Poll: Walker holds Iowa lead as challengers gain ground

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker maintains his lead in Iowa over the GOP presidential field in a new Quinnipiac University poll, but other Republican politicians are gaining ground on him.

{mosads}Walker wins 18 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers in the poll, released Wednesday, down from 21 percent in May and 25 percent in February.

In a field of more than ten career politicians, Donald Trump and Ben Carson — two candidates who have never held elected office — round out the top three with 10 percent support each. Trump, who announced his candidacy earlier this month, hadn’t been tested by previous Quinnipiac Iowa polls, while Carson is up from 7 percent in May.

The top echelon of the field rounded out with Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) at 9 percent each, while former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) both attracted 7 percent support and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.) grabbed 5 percent. The remaining candidates all scored under 4 percent.

Paul, Cruz and Huckabee all slipped from double-digit poll numbers in the May poll. Iowa is specifically important for those three candidates, as they look to use the state as a springboard to propel them to the top of the crowded field.

Paul’s father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), won the Iowa caucuses in 2012 despite coming in a distant third place in the race for the GOP nomination that year. Huckabee won the caucuses in 2008 before losing the nomination to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Bush’s 7 percent is a small up-tick from his 5 percent back in May, as the establishment favorite looks to woo Iowans and others from the party’s conservative base. But he currently holds the third-highest unfavorable rating, 42 percent, behind Trump’s 47 percent and Gov. Chris Christie’s (N.J.) 59 percent.

Those three candidates also have the highest amount of people that refuse to support them. Twenty-eight percent said they would definitely not vote for Trump, 24 percent felt the same way about Bush and 18 percent wouldn’t choose Christie.

Walker holds the highest favorability rate at 66 percent, followed by Carson’s 63 percent, Huckabee’s 61 percent, Rubio’s 60 percent, Cruz’s 58 percent and Paul’s 53 percent.

The Quinnipiac poll of 666 likely caucus-goers has a 4 percent margin of error.