Republicans lean toward Ron DeSantis as the main party influencer over Trump, and the most recent Iowa poll shows that race closing in on former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. In the Senate race, a new Quinnipiac poll shows former Georgia senator and South Carolina governor Tim Scott leading incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly by 6 points.
The two Republican primary winners are Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who would seem to be the most conservative candidate in either party, is in second place in both the GOP primary and the general election against Hillary Clinton, said a new Des Moines Register poll. Florida senator Marco Rubio is in third.
The poll showed Trump and Bush beating likely Republican nominee Sen. Ted Cruz. Rubio, who has surged in recent polls after a strong debate performance on Tuesday, was in fourth place, the poll found. Kasich was in sixth.
There are three other candidates who received less than 1 percent in the poll: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Ohio governor John Kasich.
New poll finds Bush in second in both GOP primaries, while Rubio in third in general election against Clinton. — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 18, 2016
The survey also showed Cruz and Rubio in front of Trump and Bush. (The New York Times poll, which has Rubio in third, does not include Cruz.)
The poll was conducted before Friday’s debate.
The polls in Iowa and the general election are the first public look at how voters are leaning following the two contests. Some voters in these contests were likely to be undecided until the debate on Tuesday night, said pollsters.