Thanks in large part to female support, Ben Carson has taken an eight-point lead over Donald Trump in Iowa, home of the first caucus, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday.
Carson is at 28 percent, and Trump is at 20 percent. A month ago, a Q poll had Trump at 27 percent, and Carson at 21 percent.
Marco Rubio is third in the new survey with 13 percent. That’s an eight-point increase for him since September. Ted Cruz is next with 10 percent.
Next up is Rand Paul at 6 percent. Then comes Carly Fiorina and Jeb Bush tied for sixth place at 5 percent. No other candidate tops 3 percent.
A deeper look at the cross-tabs indicates that it’s female voters who are giving Carson a boost in this poll — the retired pediatric neurosurgeon is leading Trump 33-13 percent among women. Among men, Carson leads Trump, 25-24 percent.
“It’s Ben Carson’s turn in the spotlight,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Today’s results show his appeal is especially strong among the state’s sizeable white, evangelical Christian community, among whom Carson is receiving 36 percent, twice Trump’s 17 percent,” Brown added.
The poll of 574 likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers took place Oct. 14-20 via land lines and cell phones. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
