Republican Donald Trump is surging in Iowa with a week to go before the first votes are cast in the 2016 U.S. presidential election process. A Fox News poll shows Trump moving into a big lead over Texas Senator Ted Cruz by a margin of 34 to 23 percent, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio in third place with 12 percent. A new CBS News Battleground Tracker on-line poll shows Trump with a smaller lead over Cruz at 39 to 34 percent, with Rubio trailing at 13 percent.
These latest surveys show Trump gaining support with less than a week to go before the February 1st Iowa caucuses, the first official voting test of the 2016 campaign. Trump told supporters in Muscatine, Iowa, that he is making an all-out effort in Iowa. “I want to win Iowa, I want to really win it” he said.
Trump’s poll surge comes after Cruz was put on the defensive when Trump raised questions about his eligibility to be president because Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother.
The latest polls also show Trump holding a big lead in New Hampshire, which follows Iowa with the first in the nation presidential primary on February 9th. The latest Fox News poll shows Trump with 31 percent in New Hampshire followed by Cruz with 14 percent and Rubio at 13. Ohio Governor John Kasich received nine percent support in New Hampshire followed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, both at seven percent.
The polling news for Trump is also encouraging in South Carolina, which votes later in February. The CBS News on-line poll has Trump ahead with 40 percent support from Republican primary voters, followed by Cruz at 21 percent and Rubio at 13 percent. The top Republican contenders meet for one more debate Thursday in Des Moines, their last before next Monday’s caucuses.
Source-VOA
