Editor’s Note: This story appeared in today’s online version of the Huffington Post.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is the top choice for president in 2016 among Republican voters in Iowa, surging past a crowded field of rivals to take the lead in a Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll of prospective Republican candidates for president.

In the poll, released on Saturday night, Walker was the first choice of 15 percent of respondents in the poll, up from 4 percent when the poll was conducted in October. Walker bested Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who was at 14 percent. Mitt Romney was in third at 13 percent; the poll was taken from Monday to Thursday, before he announced his withdrawal from the race. Ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was in fourth with ten percent of voters’ support.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee received ten percent, and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson got nine percent.

Jeb Bush, who is viewed as the GOP’s establishment choice, was only preferred by eight percent of voters. The results held even more bad news for Bush, receiving a favorability rating of 46 percent, not far from the 43 percent who view him unfavorably.

Read the full story here.