Ted Cruz vaults into GOP's top tier

Cruz vaults into GOP's top tier
By Jonathan Easley - 04-01-15 12:58 PM EDT

Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) early entrance into the presidential field has given him a significant polling bump and vaulted him into the top tier of GOP contenders, according to a new poll.

The Democratic Public Policy Polling survey released Wednesday shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leading the Republican field at 20 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 17 percent and Cruz at 16 percent.

In the same poll from last month, Cruz was buried in sixth place, pulling only 5 percent support.

Rounding out the field are Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) at 10 percent each, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 6 percent each, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 3 percent.

Last week, Cruz became the first major Republican candidate to officially enter the presidential race. He made the announcement at Liberty University in Virginia, the largest evangelical school in the country.

Since then, Cruz has been blanketing the airwaves. He launched his campaign headquarters in his home town of Houston this week, and has been making his first trips as an official candidate through the carve-out states. Cruz was in New Hampshire for a spate of events over the weekend, and has five events scheduled in Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday.

Cruz will be running in the socially conservative lane of the Republican primaries, and is expected to compete with Carson and Huckabee for evangelical voters. Cruz’s bump in the PPP survey comes at the expense of both potential candidates.

According to the survey, Cruz’s support among those who identify as "very conservative" shot up from 11 percent last month to 33 percent this month. Over that same time period, Carson’s support dropped from 18 percent to 10 percent, while Huckabee’s support fell from 10 percent to 6 percent.

Cruz’s early announcement has vastly increased his national profile. His name recognition among Republicans has gone up from 61 percent last month to 82 percent this month.

There was good news in the PPP survey for two other candidates as well. 
 
Paul was another fast-riser, jumping from 4 percent support last month to 10 percent this month. He’s expected to announce his candidacy for the White House on April 7 in Lexington, Ky.

And Rubio has the highest favorability rating of any of the GOP presidential hopefuls, with 55 percent saying they have a positive view of the Florida Republican. Rubio is expected to launch his bid for the White House on April 13 in Miami.