Pre-Iowa poll: Trump leads Cruz by 24 in NH

Donald Trump has double the support of Ted Cruz among New Hampshire Republicans, according to a new poll conducted before Cruz’s surprise victory in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, the nation’s first presidential primary contest.

Trump leads Cruz by 24 points in the Granite State, per the University of Massachusetts-Lowell/7 News survey released Tuesday, with a 38 to 14 split.

Marco Rubio ranks third, with 10 percent. No other candidate scores double-digit polling numbers in Tuesday’s results.

{mosads}John Kasich and Jeb Bush tie for fourth, with 9 percent each. Chris Christie rounds out the top five with 5 percent voter support of his own.

Respondents though were surveyed before Cruz overtook Trump to win the Iowa caucuses on Monday. Polls before the first-in-the-nation caucuses had shown Trump to be the favorite. Cruz credited his results as a “victory for the grass roots.” 

The candidates are now headed to New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Feb. 9.

The New Hampshire poll shows the state’s Republican-leaning voters dedicated to their first choice candidate.

About 69 percent said they are “definitely” voting for Trump, with 58 percent stating the same for Cruz and 57 percent for Rubio. Roughly 31 percent “could change their mind” about Trump, meanwhile, with 42 percent saying the same about Cruz and 43 percent for Rubio.

Trump is particularly resonating with voters skeptical of government.

About 44 percent who “never” trust the government back the billionaire, paired with 37 percent who said they trust government “only sometimes” and 26 percent who said “always or most of the time.”

Cruz, meanwhile, receives 18 percent from Americans who “never” put their faith in government, versus 13 percent who responded “only sometimes” and 9 percent who said “always or most of the time.”

UMass-Lowell/7 News conducted its latest sampling of 470 Republican-leaning voters in New Hampshire via cellphone and landline telephone interviews from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. It has a 5 percent margin of error.