A new poll shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sitting atop a handful of 2016 GOP contenders in the early presidential state of Iowa, notching a 10-point lead over his nearest rival.
Mr. Walker, who has not yet officially declared his candidacy, was the choice of 23 percent of Republicans, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 13 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 12 percent, according to the survey released Tuesday by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky were next at 10 percent apiece, followed by 8 percent for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, 7 percent for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 5 percent for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and 4 percent for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Mr. Cruz, Mr. Paul, and Mr. Rubio are the only three major Republicans to have officially announced they are running for president in 2016.
Fifty-nine percent of voters view Mr. Walker favorably, compared to 13 percent who have an unfavorable view, and he leads the field both among voters who are more concerned about general election electability and among voters more concerned with having the most conservative candidate.
“In 2012 there was always a tension for Republican voters between getting a conservative enough candidate and getting one they thought could beat Barack Obama,” said Dean Debnam, president of PPP. “At least in Iowa they seem to think Scott Walker is the guy who can check off both of those boxes.”
Mr. Walker, who attracted attention in the state after a well-received appearance at GOP Rep. Steve King’s “Iowa Freedom Summit” in January, has a 4.5-point lead over Mr. Bush in Real Clear Politics’ latest average of public polling in the Hawkeye State.
Mr. Walker also led in the state in a separate poll released Tuesday by Loras College. In the Loras poll, Mr. Walker was the choice of 12.6 percent of likely GOP caucus goers, and was followed by Mr. Rubio at 10 percent and Mr. Bush at 9.6 percent.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was the overwhelming front-runner in the PPP poll, taking 62 percent of the vote. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont independent, was next with 14 percent.
The PPP survey of 466 Democratic voters and 462 Republican voters was taken from April 23-26. The margin of error for the Democratic sample is plus or minus 4.5 percent and the margin of error for the Republican sample is plus or minus 4.6 percent.
The Loras College poll was taken from April 21-23, and the subsample of 509 likely Republican caucus participants has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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