Scott Walker runaway winner in GOP presidential poll
A nationwide online poll taken by the Drudge Report reveals that Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the hands-down favorite for the 2016 GOP presidential election so far, taking nearly half the total votes – a number that almost reached half a million by the close of the poll.
With former two-time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney now out of the running, Walker has shown great promise at the polls, which the former Massachusetts governor dominated before his departure from the race.
Leaving the other dozen potential GOP presidential candidates far behind in the dust, Walker pulled in nearly 200,000 votes (or 44 percent) from the online participants across the country. He earned more than three times as many votes than the next highest contender, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who rounded up nearly 59,000 votes – a distant 31 points behind, or 13 percent of the total. The only other candidate who registered more than 10 percent of the votes was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who received more than 50,000 votes, or 12 percent of the total number casted in this week’s poll.
Of the remaining candidates, only five drew more than one percent of the total vote. Those candidates were: author and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson (8 percent), billionaire entrepreneur Donald Trump (5 percent), former Alaska Governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin (5 percent), former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
The bottom of the field – pulling in one percent of the vote – were: former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (9th place), former Arkansas Gov. and Fox TV show host Mike Huckabee (10th place), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (11th place), former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (12th place) and business exec Carly Fiorina (13th place).
Take a look at the final rundown of the Drudge poll by rankings, percentages and votes below:
- Scott Walker ─ 44 percent (199,095 votes)
2. Ted Cruz ─ 13 percent (58,844 votes)
3. Rand Paul ─ 12 percent (51,770 votes)
4. Ben Carson ─ 8 percent (37,945 votes)
5. Donald Trump ─ 5 percent (23,974 votes)
6. Sarah Palin ─ 5 percent (20,935 votes)
7. Jeb Bush ─ 4 percent (18,864 votes)
8. Marco Rubio ─ 3 percent (14,955 votes)
9. Rick Perry ─ 1 percent (6,268 votes)
10. Mike Huckabee ─ 1 percent (6,259 votes)
11. Chris Christie ─ 1 percent (5,726 votes)
12. Rick Santorum ─ 1 percent (3,038 votes)
13. Carly Fiorina ─ 1 percent (2,291 votes)
Notable surprises in the poll include the relatively low numbers generated by Bush, who was the main establishment Republican left in the running after Romney left the field last week. He was overshadowed in the Drudge Poll by six other prospective candidates, including both Palin and Trump, who are no strangers to presidential campaigns of the not-so-distant past.
See you at the other poll …
Walker also found himself on top in a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll of likely Republican caucus-goers. However, the margin of victory was much, much narrower.
As the poll was taken during the days leading up to Romney bowing out of the race, the former Mass. governor was included in the tally, but Walker still managed to remain on top. Potential candidates included in this poll who weren’t included in the Drudge Poll above are Gov. Bobby Jindal (R- La.), Gov. John Kasich (R- Ohio) and Gov. Mike Pence (R- Ind.).
Here’s how they fared in the recent Hawkeye State poll:
- Scott Walker (15 percent)
2. Rand Paul (14 percent)
3. Mitt Romney (13 percent)
4. Mike Huckabee (10 percent)
5. Ben Carson (9 percent)
6. Jeb Bush (8 percent)
7. Ted Cruz (5 percent)
8. Rick Santorum (4 percent)
9. Chris Christie (4 percent)
10. Marco Rubio (3 percent)
11. Rick Perry (3 percent)
12. Bobby Jindal (2 percent)
13. Carly Fiorina (1 percent)
14. John Kasich (1 percent)
15. Donald Trump (1 percent)
16. Mike Pence (<1 percent)
Noticeable differences in the Register/Bloombergpoll from the Drudge Report poll are Huckabee’s numbers which typically run high in Iowa. Cruz dropped by more than half in percentage points and Bush doubled his percentage of votes.
Ideologically speaking
When it comes to the “right” mix of ideologies voters are looking for in a president, Perry topped the Iowa poll, as the largest percentage of Buckeye voters viewed him as not “too conservative” or “too moderate,” but just “about right.”
Here are the results for “Mr. Right” or “Ms. Right:”
- Rick Perry (62 percent)
2. Mike Huckabee (57 percent)
3. Scott Walker (56 percent)
4. Rand Paul (55 percent)
5. Marco Rubio (53 percent)
6. Rick Santorum (49 percent)
7. Ben Carson (49 percent)
8. Ted Cruz (48 percent)
9. Mitt Romney (46 percent)
10. Jeb Bush (40 percent)
11. Bobby Jindal (38 percent)
12. Donald Trump (28 percent)
13. Chris Christie (27 percent)
14. John Kasich (23 percent)
15. Carly Fiorina (15 percent)
16. Mike Pence (13 percent)
One more for the presidential road …
When it comes to overall favorability in the eyes of Iowan voters, Mike Huckabee turned out to be a conservative favorite. Rand Paul and Rick Perry tied for a close second in the “favorable” category.
Even though the results shown below only focus on the candidates’ favorability, voters also judged the potential Republican presidential candidates on their un-favorability. Not surprisingly, the often-abrasive Donald Trump led all contenders in the “unfavorable” grouping. In that category, the business tycoon led everyone with 68 percent, followed by Chris Christie at 54 percent. Tied with having the lowest “unfavorable” votes were Scott Walker and Ben Carson (just 12 percent a piece).
Going back to the “favorable” side, here’s how the possible GOP candidates stacked up:
- Mike Huckabee (66 percent)
2. Rand Paul (64 percent)
3. Rick Perry (64 percent)
4. Scott Walker (60 percent)
5. Ted Cruz (58 percent)
6. Marco Rubio (57 percent)
7. Rick Santorum (57 percent)
8. Mitt Romney (57 percent)
9 Ben Carson (50 percent)
10. Jeb Bush (46 percent)
11. Bobby Jindal (39 percent)
12. Chris Christie (36 percent)
13. Donald Trump (26 percent)
14. John Kasich (22 percent)
15. Carly Fiorina (15 percent)
16. Mike Pence (13 percent)
Even though Walker dropped to #4 in this category at 60 percent, he is still well within closing range of the top candidates in this field, posing a threat to other leading candidates in the state that kicks off the presidential election primaries come 2016.
Originally published at OneNewsNow.com
February 9, 2015 4:52 AM 
