A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Texas Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] barely topping fellow Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for the first time since January. Reuters five day rolling poll shows Cruz barely within the margin of error with 39 percent of likely Republican voters nationally, while Trump has 37 percent.
Trump’s poll numbers dipped precipitously this week as Cruz’s numbers spiked. Following rough weeks dealing with tabloid accusations about alleged fidelity issues, Cruz found momentum in out-organizing Trump in the delegate selection process, which granted him more delegates in key committees in states he previously lost to Trump.
Additionally, Cruz scored delegates recently in other states without primary contests like Colorado and North Dakota.
Trump, last week, however, found himself defending multiple contradicting statements he made on abortion. The first such statement included some kind of “punishment” for women who have abortions. Trump later clarified that remark saying he was asked a “hypothetical” question about the issue.
Trump was also criticized for tweeting out an unflattering photo of Cruz’s wife Heidi immediately after an anti-Trump super PAC posted a past GQ photo spread of Trump’s wife Melania in the nude. After accusing the Cruz camp of being behind the posting of the photo, the New York billionaire eventually told The New York Times he regretted the tweet this week.
The New York developer and the Texas senator face off in Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Trump is hoping for a win to regain his lost momentum.
“If he wins Wisconsin, the contest is over,” said Karl Rove, former George W. Bush White House advisor and Fox News contributor, of Trump on Tuesday. “If not, it’s gonna go on and the math becomes somewhat more difficult.”