Scott Walker is making some controversial personnel decisions — but voters in Colorado don’t seem that upset. Even after his campaign made news in Iowa, the Wisconsin governor remained the far-and-away leader in the Centennial State, according to an overnight flash poll conducted by VoterGravity.com.
One-third of Coloradans in this survey picked Walker. That’s better than double the support for second place Jeb Bush. The former Florida governor, busy raising campaign cash for his PAC, earned 14 percent support. Dr. Ben Carson was right behind, at 12 percent.
The survey is comprehensive. It includes only people who are extremely likely voters — those who’ve cast ballots in each of the last four Colorado Republican primaries. It also involves an unusually large sample size, with more than 8,200 respondents.
There’s also room for change. Some 12 percent support “other,” indicating they’re available if a better candidate can make a solid case.
“Our newest flash poll in Colorado only re-enforces the trends we’ve been seeing in our previous polls,” Ned Ryun, CEO of Voter Gravity, says. “Scott Walker continues to perform very strongly with the GOP primary base, whether it’s in the south or out west.”
Sitting senators didn’t do well in Colorado. Marco Rubio (7 percent), Rand Paul (6 percent) and Ted Cruz (4 percent) were near the bottom of the Voter Gravity survey. That could be bad news for Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat who’ll be seeking re-election in 2016. Coloradans replaced Dem. Sen. Mark Udall with Republican Cory Gardner last year.
“I do think this also highlights what other polls are also showing: Rubio, Paul and Cruz have some work to do if they are going to elevate themselves to Tier 1 candidates,” Ryun says. “I don’t think it’s really dawned on people yet that really by next year at this time, March of 2016, we’ll have already had over 20 GOP primaries and caucuses with over 50 percent of the delegates decided.”
Several high-profile candidates are expected to officially announce their bids next month. Meanwhile, Voter Gravity plans to release a new tracking poll each week or so.