Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is currently the most popular potential 2016 Republican candidate among Iowa primary voters, according to a new poll.
A new WPA Opinion Research poll examined how the potential 2016 GOP field would fare in Iowa if the caucuses were held today. Among Iowa Republican primary voters, 14 percent said they would vote for Huckabee, 10 percent said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and eight percent said Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
“Gov. Huckabee and Sen. Paul continue to perform strongly in early polling both nationally and in Iowa,” WPA Opinion Research CEO Chris Wilson said in a statement. “What’s interesting here is that for Gov. Huckabee, the majority of his support is being driven by voters 55 years or older. It also illustrates the wisdom of Senator Paul’s strategy of investing significant time into bridging the generational gap and reaching out to younger voters.”
The telephone survey of 402 Republican primary voters, taken on March 30, also included Paul Ryan (seven percent), Jeb Bush (seven percent), Ted Cruz (seven percent), Chris Christie (six percent), Rick Santorum (five percent), Rick Perry (three percent), Marco Rubio (three percent) and Bobby Jindal (two percent).
Some 26 percent said they were undecided and 2 percent said they would support somebody else, leading Wilson to conclude the “the caucus is still, of course, very much up-for-grabs and anything could happen.”
Huckabee won the first in the nation Iowa Republican caucuses in 2008 when he ran for president.