Republican dark horse emerges as top contender in Iowa: poll 11 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Republican underdog Mike Huckabee has leapt past three more high-profile rivals to take second place in the latest poll in Iowa, the key US state that begins the party nominating vote on January 3.
The Washington Post/ABC News poll published Wednesday found that 24 percent of Republicans likely to attend the caucus vote would support Huckabee, who stood four percentage points behind former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Huckabee, a former governor of the southern state of Arkansas, surged past former television star Fred Thompson, who was third with 15 percent, and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who stood at 14 percent.
He was also well ahead of Senator John McCain, who was tied for fifth with another Republican who has risen in the polls, Representative Ron Paul, with six percent.
Huckabee, who like former Democratic president Bill Clinton was born in the Arkansas town of Hope, has seen his support in Iowa triple from eight percent in a July poll thanks to strong support among Christian conservatives, according to the Post/ABC survey.
Huckabee's support among evangelical Protestants rose 28 percentage points to 44 percent and 19 points among conservatives to 30 percent, the poll found.
Among Republicans who attended the previous caucus, his support rose from nine percent to 29 percent.
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