GOP presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee is doing quite well according to two national polls conducted after the first GOP presidential primary debate.
One poll has Huckabee in second place behind GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and another poll has Huckabee listed with the highest favorability rating among 15 GOP presidential candidates; however, former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson takes the highest net favorability rating when comparing the results in totality.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted August 21-25 has Huckabee in second behind Trump – the only two candidates with double digits in that poll:
Donald Trump – 30.1 percent
Mike Huckabee – 10.4 percent
Jeb Bush – 8.3 percent
Ben Carson – 8 percent
Scott Walker – 6.7 percent
Marco Rubio – 5.1 percent
Ted Cruz – 4.4 percent
Rand Paul – 3.9 percent
Carly Fiorina – 3.8 percent
John Kasich – 2.7 percent
Chris Christie – 2.5 percent
Rick Perry – 2.3 percent
Bobby Jindal – 1.1 percent
Rick Santorum – 1 percent
Lindsey Graham – 0.8 percent
Another national poll, a Gallup poll conducted from August 7-19th, has Huckabee with the highest overall favorability rating among the GOP presidential candidates, but Carson with the highest net favorables:
Mike Huckabee – 58 percent vs. 19 percent
Marco Rubio – 57 percent vs. 13 percent
Jeb Bush – 55 percent vs. 28 percent
Ben Carson – 55 percent vs. 4 percent
Donald Trump – 55 percent vs. 38 percent
Ted Cruz – 53 percent vs. 18 percent
Scott Walker – 48 percent vs. 11 percent
Carly Fiorina – 44 percent vs. 11 percent
Rick Perry – 43 percent vs. 27 percent
Chris Christie – 42 percent vs. 34 percent
Rand Paul – 39 percent vs. 33 percent
Bobby Jindal – 38 percent vs. 12 percent
John Kasich – 37 percent vs. 11 percent
Rick Santorum – 34 percent vs. 25 percent
Lindsey Graham 23 percent vs. 30 percent
When examining the net favorability ratings according to the Gallop poll, Carson fairs the best among the candidates, with Rubio coming in second after Carson in net favorables. Huckabee comes in third with his overall net favorability rating.
The Gallop poll results show that Carson’s net favorable rating was high in July, but increased 12 points since that time – placing him with the highest net favorability rating out of any candidate according to Republicans as well as Republican-leaning independent voters.
“Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz join Carson and Fiorina as having the most positive images among the 17 candidates — but none of these four saw much change in their images after the debates,” the Gallop poll findings state.