Carly Fiorina and John Kasich Crack Republican Top 10, Ousting Perry and Santorum
Five-way tie at the top between Bush, Carson, Huckabee, Rubio, and Walker.
GOP presidential hopefuls Carly Fiorina and John Kasich have finally established themselves among the party's top tier candidates (at least for now). Until this week, both have hovered near the bottom of the deep conservative candidate pool in national polls. But the latest survey from Quinnipiac University shows Kasich and Fiorina tied for tenth place among GOP candidates, each garnering 2 percent support from likely Republican primary voters. Ousted from the list with this poll were Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.
At the top of the list was a five-way tie between Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker, each getting 10 percent of the hypothetical vote. Bush and Huckabee polled best among women, while Walker and Carson polled best among men. (Both Fiorina and Kasich polled slightly better among women than men.)
In sixth place was Sen. Rand Paul with 7 percent.* And rounding out the top-10 list were Ted Cruz (6 percent), Donald Trump (5 percent), and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (4 percent).
Polling below Trump might not sound like amazing news for Fiorina or Kasich. But though Trump has his supporters, he also tops the poll's "no way" list, with 21 percent of GOP voters saying they definitely would not support him. Second in unpopularity was Bush, at 17 percent "no way," and Christie, at 15 percent.
Fox News announced last week that it will limit participation in its August 6 Republican debate—the first of the primary season—to the top 10 GOP candidates. It will determine the top 10 by averaging rankings from five national polls closest to the debate (meaning this one, from Quinnipiac, is still too far out to count).
* Previously stated that Paul polled worst among "moderate/ libertarian" conservatives; the category was actually moderate/liberal.
