Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is sitting atop the 2016 GOP field in the early caucus state of Iowa with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson not too far behind, a new poll said.
Mr. Trump, the billionaire businessman, was the first choice of 23 percent of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers, followed by Mr. Carson at 18 percent, according to the Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll released over the weekend.
“Trump and Carson, one bombastic and the other sometimes soft-spoken, could hardly be more different in their outward presentations,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of West Des Moines-based Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll. “Yet they’re both finding traction because they don’t seem like politicians, and there’s a strong demand for that right now.”
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker were tied at 8 percent apiece, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 6 percent apiece and businesswoman Carly Fiorina at 5 percent.
Sixty-one percent said they have a favorable opinion of Mr. Trump, compared to 35 percent with an unfavorable one. Mr. Carson, meanwhile, had the highest favorability rating among GOP candidates at 79 percent among likely GOP caucus-goers.
The survey of 400 likely Republican caucus-goers was taken Aug. 23-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
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• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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