Another poll shows businessman Donald Trump outpacing his 2016 GOP presidential rivals in Iowa, with voters giving him high marks on issues ranging from the economy to illegal immigration and saying he’s the candidate that’s the most electable and the most likely to shake up Washington.
Mr. Trump was the first choice of 22 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 14 percent and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 9 percent, according to the CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday.
They were followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 8 percent, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 7 percent apiece, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida all at 5 percent each.
Recent surveys from Suffolk University and Public Policy Polling also put Mr. Trump in the lead in the early caucus state.
Thirty-seven percent of voters said Mr. Trump would do the best job handling the economy; Ms. Fiorina was next at 10 percent. Thirty-five percent said Mr. Trump would do the best on illegal immigration, with Mr. Cruz in a distant second at 12 percent. Voters also said Mr. Trump would do the best handling terrorism, with Mr. Cruz in second at 13 percent.
And 44 percent of voters chose Mr. Trump as the candidate who “is most likely to change the way things work in Washington,” with no other candidate reaching double digits.
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Voters also saw Mr. Trump as the most electable Republican. Twenty-two percent said Mr. Trump has the best chance of winning in the general election next November, followed by Mr. Bush at 16 percent.
Mr. Trump did trail Mr. Carson among women, and was behind Mr. Carson, Mr. Cruz, and Mr. Walker among people who described themselves as “very conservative.”
Voters said Mr. Carson and Mr. Huckabee would best handle the abortion issue. And Mr. Carson led the way at 14 percent on the question of “best represents the values of Republicans like yourself,” followed by Mr. Trump at 12 percent.
The survey of 2,014 adults taken Aug. 7-11 included interviews with 544 likely Republican caucus-goers, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for that smaller subgroup.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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