Trump holds 13-point lead in Iowa poll

Donald Trump holds a double-digit lead over his Republican presidential rivals in the early-voting state of Iowa, according to the latest CNN/ORC poll released Monday afternoon. 

Trump is supported by 33 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), at 20 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, at 16 percent and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), at 11 percent, according to the CNN findings.

{mosads}After the poll was published, Trump expressed his appreciation, tweeting, “I am greatly honored by the results of the CNN poll in Iowa. In the end, I believe the final results will be even better than that!”

The survey represents a marked difference from another Iowa poll released hours earlier by Monmouth University, which found Cruz rocketing past Trump, 24 percent to 19 percent. 

That Monmouth poll showing Cruz atop the pack also found Rubio in third place, with 17 percent, and Carson in fourth place, with 13 percent. Their rankings were reversed in the CNN survey. 

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is the next closest candidate in both Hawkeye State surveys, though he clocks in at a distant 6 percent in the Monmouth poll and 4 percent in the CNN survey.

Both surveys have shown Cruz rising in Iowa while Carson has slipped.

Monmouth surveyed 425 likely GOP caucus-goers Dec. 3-6 and has a margin of error of 4.8 percentage points, while CNN conducted its survey of 552 likely Republican caucus-goers starting slightly earlier, from Nov. 28 through Dec. 6. It has a margin of error of 4 points. 

CNN noted that sampling differences could explain the difference between the surveys.

Monmouth drew its sample from lists of registered voters who voted in at least one prior state primary, in a recent general election or registered to vote in the past year. CNN drew its sample by asking adults about their past participation patterns and intensions. 

See the full Monmouth poll here and the CNN poll here.