Whatever New Hampshire saw in Donald Trump, it looks like Iowa is seeing it too.
After taking second place in the latest New Hampshire polls, Trump is also claiming the silver in Iowa — where he traveled hot off his announcement — claiming 10% of support among likely caucus-goers, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker continues to lead the Republican field in the Hawkeye state with 18%, while Ben Carson tied with Trump for second. Walker has yet to announce he is running for president, but is expected to launch his campaign this month.
While Walker sits eight points ahead of the field, the rest of the fray of Republican White House hopefuls is tightly packed within the poll’s margin of error. Just one point behind Carson and Trump lie Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas. Floridians Jeb Bush, the state’s former governor, and Marco Rubio, a senator, trail closely with 8% and 7%, respectively.
Conspicuously missing from the top ranks are the Iowa caucus’s last two victors, evangelical favorites Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Huckabee notches 5% to Santorum’s 4%.
One thing is sure though: Trump is surging off of his announcement two weeks ago.
For his part, Trump responded to the poll results Wednesday in statement saying the results are “representative of the response we are receiving from all over the country.”
Now at 10% in the Quinnipiac poll, a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll that came two weeks before his announcement — and gave Walker the lead with a similar 17% — had Trump checking with just 4% of support.
And he is now registering as second nationwide — behind Bush — in a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday.
But like in other polls, voters who don’t support Trump are making it clear that they’re not going to change their minds according to Wednesday’s Quinnipiac survey.
Nearly 3 in 10 voters said they would definitely not support Trump. Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who are viewed as moderates by Republican base voters, come close to that with 24% and 18%, respectively, saying they would never support those candidates.
Trump and Christie are the only two candidates with their approval numbers underwater in Iowa: 47% have an unfavorable view of Trump (with 42% saying they have a positive view) and 59% see Christie in a negative light, with just 25% looking at Christie favorably.
The Christie campaign, which launched Tuesday, has been clear though that Iowa won’t be a stomping ground for the brash New Jersey governor. Christie is instead setting his sights on New Hampshire as the early primary state he hopes to claim.
But even in New Hampshire, Christie will first have to surpass Trump to climb to the top.
