Cruz opens up 10-point lead on Trump in Iowa

In a poll released on Saturday night by Bloomberg and the Des Moines Register, the Texas senator had the support of 31% of likely Republican caucus-goers in the first-in-the-nation state, well ahead of Donald Trump at 21%.

Describing himself as an evangelical Christian, Mr Trump said: “I do like Cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba”.

Cruz’s 21-percentage-point jump since October is the largest surge between Iowa Polls recorded in at least the last five presidential caucus campaigns. Jeb Bush has 6% – a 1% increase from October. In the past, he’s criticized the paper for its editorial calling on him to drop out. Parker says she wishes others in the GOP field would stop talking about Trump and start talking more about what they would do if elected.

“I happen to believe that the extraordinary leader that we need for these extraordinary times is US Senator Ted Cruz”, said Vander Plaats, “and we will be going all in for Senator Ted Cruz”.

“Trump previewed his attack lines on Twitter Friday morning: “@tedcruz should not make statements behind closed doors to his bosses, he should bring them out into the open – more fun that way!”, Trump tweeted.

Mr Trump has also hit back at a Saudi royal who called him a “disgrace” for his anti-Muslim remarks. “But with the ethanol, really it’s – he’s got to come a long way cause he’s right now for the oil”. Independent groups there are beginning to spend money against Cruz for his position, which Trump told a questioner was “anti-Iowa”. It requires the USA fuel supply to use a certain amount of ethanol. He added, “I only like polls that treat me well”. “The Des Moines Register is the worst”.

Selzer cautioned to NBC News last week that there is still much at stake over the next month and a half before suggesting this is how the GOP race will conclude.

A minority of 40 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers support making abortion illegal, including in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. “And there’s no advantage to lock in, so why would they?”

Cruz has been aggressively campaigning in the Hawkeye State, picking up key endorsements in the state earlier this week. “I would say that we would certainly have things in mind for Ted, to be honest with you”.

“While this is just one poll, these numbers are a testament to the ongoing hard work that our volunteers and Ted Cruz have put into building up our Iowa organization”, he said. This is the highest out of any of the candidates – Trump is 53 percent favorable. It’s like finding a lot of needles in a haystack. “You don’t get crowds like this at a town hall”.

Ben Carson, another “Washington outsider” candidate, has plunged 15 points from his perch at the front of the pack in October.

Shortly after the release of those polls, Trump let loose in a flurry of attacks in Sioux City, Iowa, against Carson. “This is ridiculous. I mean what is my competition?”