Former reality-television star Donald Trump has a commanding 11-point lead in the the Republican race to win the Iowa caucuses, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Thursday.
The results of this poll show a substantial advantage for Trump, polling at 37 percent, over Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who claimed 26 percent support among Iowa Republicans. This suggests that the contest has tightened slightly since the same poll was conducted in December, when Trump beat Cruz 33 percent to 20 percent.
As Cruz and Trump have fought bitterly in Iowa, recent polling has varied enormously in identifying which one claims more support in the state and by what margin. So this result is especially good news for Trump.
Cruz, despite falling far behind Trump, also holds a dominant position over the rest of the 12-person Republican field. The third-place contestant, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), is 12 points behind Cruz at 14 percent support, a wider margin than in the December poll.
The CNN/ORC telephone poll was conducted from Jan. 15-20. Interviewers surveyed 266 likely Republican caucusgoers, with a margin of error of 6 percentage points.
