Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has his first polling lead in the Iowa caucuses, powered by his strength among evangelical and tea party voters.

Cruz earns 24 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers in the newest Monmouth University poll taken Thursday through Sunday.

That places him 5 points ahead of second-place Donald Trump (19 percent) and 7 points ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (17 percent), who's in third.



The biggest loser in the Iowa survey is Ben Carson, who has dropped to fourth place, taking just 13 percent. Carson led the October Monmouth poll, but has bled 19 points in two months.

Among evangelical voters, who comprise half of the caucus electorate, Cruz beats Trump 30 percent to 18 percent. Among self-identified tea partiers, his advantage is 36 percent to 20 percent.



Trump's strength hinges on the prospect of bringing new voters into the process. He holds a 9-point lead with non-GOP voters who say they will participate in the Feb. 1 caucuses.

But among the most committed caucusgoers, Rubio actually leapfrogs Trump. "About 7 in 10 voters in the sample, though, regularly cast GOP primary ballots. Among this more probable group of voters, Cruz (25 percent) and Rubio (21 percent) garner greater support than Trump (16 percent) and Carson (13 percent)," a Monmouth release accompanying the poll said .

The highly conservative, deeply religious Iowa electorate always posed a challenge to Trump, who has been married three times and told an audience there this summer he doesn't ask God for forgiveness.

After an early November poll showed Carson closing in on the billionaire real estate mogul in the Hawkeye State, Trump asked at one rally, "How stupid are the people of Iowa?"

