Cruz leads Trump by six points in new Iowa poll

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has surged past rival Donald Trump in Iowa, a new poll says.

Cruz is more than 6 points ahead of Trump in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, scoring 29.7 percent support to the billionaire businessman’s 23.4 percent, according to the Loras College survey.

{mosads}Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson ranks third, with 10.8 percent, edging out Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for fourth, at 10.6 percent. Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) completes the GOP’s top five in Iowa, with 6.2 percent.

The Loras results are in line with other recent polls of Iowa that have put Cruz at or near the top.

Pollsters found that Cruz’s lead over Trump grew by more than 20 points when factoring in voters who rank him as their second choice. Cruz takes 52.3 percent in that scenario, compared with 32.6 percent for Trump. 

Rubio, meanwhile, jumps to third place, with 29.8 percent, while Carson falls to fourth, at 24 percent. Bush remains in fifth, with 9.6 percent.

The format of the caucuses makes a voter’s second choice especially important, as the number of candidates can shrink during rounds of voting. 

Roughly 9 percent remain undecided about which Republican they would back, the poll added.

Despite the growth in support for Cruz, the poll found that most voters in Iowa think Trump will win the GOP’s 2016 Iowa caucuses and become the GOP’s presidential nominee.

About 31.3 percent believe Trump is winning in the early-voting state, versus 23.8 percent for Cruz. 

Trump remains the most divisive figure in the crowded Republican field, the poll found. About 31 percent vowed they would not back the outspoken billionaire under any circumstances.

Loras College conducted its latest sampling of 499 likely Republican voters in Iowa from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10. It has a 4.4 percent margin of error.