Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
With less than a week before the Iowa caucuses, the Republican race appears too close to call, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
Donald Trump leads the pack among likely Republican caucus goes with 31 percent, followed by Ted Cruz at 29 percent. Marco Rubio, who has held that third place spot for weeks, is at 13 percent. No other Republican candidate cracked double digits in the Quinnipiac survey.
“Despite Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Donald Trump and Gov. Terry Branstad’s criticism of Sen. Ted Cruz and despite — or because of Sen. Cruz’ ‘New York values’ comments, the Iowa Republican Caucus remains too close to call,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, in a statement.
The poll found Cruz leads Trump among white, born-again Evangelical Christians, voters who describe themselves as “very conservative” and voters who identify as members of the Tea Party.
Trump, however, leads Cruz among voters who self-identify as “somewhat conservative,” “moderate” or “liberal.”
“One week before the caucuses gather, the question is which candidate has the best field organization. If the events of the last two weeks haven’t moved the needle, one wonders what would change it in the next six days,” said Brown in a statement.
While Trump appears to have significant support among likely Republican caucus-goers, respondents aren’t so sure they would back him if he were the nominee. When asked which candidate respondents would “definitely not support for the Republican nomination for president,” Trump and Jeb Bush were tied at 24 percent.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted from Jan. 18 through Jan. 24. It surveyed 651 likely Republican caucus participants and had a margin of error of 3.8 percent
Trump, Cruz Go Down To The Wire In GOP #Iowa Caucus Poll https://t.co/OjrPo806Vt #Election2016 #IAcaucus pic.twitter.com/FXLBflwNOw
— Quinnipiac Poll (@QuinnipiacPoll) January 26, 2016
