US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has widened his lead over US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in Iowa, according to a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll on Saturday that showed the billionaire gaining momentum ahead of today’s caucuses.
The survey found that 28 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers supported Trump, while 23 percent backed Cruz. Trailing the two leading candidates were Senator Marco Rubio of Florida at 15 percent and Ben Carson at 10 percent.
The poll, considered the most authoritative survey of Iowa caucusgoers, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The results came as the US Republican presidential hopefuls crisscrossed Iowa in hopes of turning out supporters and persuading undecided voters to caucus for them.
On the Democratic side, US presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton and US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders of Vermont battled for the lead, with Clinton getting the support of 45 percent of likely caucusgoers to Sanders’ 42 percent. Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, trailed with 3 percent.
Of Democrats who were planning to caucus, 30 percent said they could still be persuaded, while 45 percent of Republicans remained open to changing their minds.
Backed by evangelical Christians and social conservatives, Cruz, of Texas, surged to the top of the Iowa polls last month only to see his momentum dampened under sustained attacks from Trump. A poll from the same group mid-last month showed Cruz with a three-point lead.
For months the candidates were publicly friendly toward each other, but Trump recently raised questions about the eligibility of the Canadian-born Cruz to run for US president and assailed his lack of popularity in the Senate. Cruz largely sought to remain above the fray, but urged Iowans not to be lured by a candidate without a conservative record who would “burn” them if chosen as the Republican nominee.
Some political analysts suggested that Trump might have blunted his momentum by skipping the Republican debate last week. However, Saturday’s results suggested his gamble paid off.
Most voters said they did not care that Trump missed the debate. However, a majority said they were bothered by Trump’s previous pro-choice views and his use of eminent domain as a businessman.
Voters were also perturbed by Cruz’s failure to disclose loans he took from big banks during his term in the Senate, but they did not seem to care about his Canadian roots.
Among the lower-tier Republican candidates, the poll showed Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky with 5 percent support, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey with 3 percent and Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Governor John Kasich of Ohio each with 2 percent.
Christie, Bush and Kasich have focused their efforts on winning New Hampshire, visiting Iowa only sporadically.
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