Ted Cruz Gains Support After Candidacy Announcement

AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Rodolfo Gonzalez
AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Rodolfo Gonzalez

In a poll conducted around the same time that Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced his candidacy, Cruz experienced the biggest positive change in his numbers versus the same CBS poll from just a month ago.

37 percent of Republicans would now consider voting for him, last month only 23 percent said so. Senator Rand Paul has gained 9 points since last month; now, 39 percent would consider voting for him, up from 30 percent in February.

While perhaps too early to know much of anything beyond name recognition from the poll—respondents are allowed to support any number of Republicans—it does suggest that Cruz has substantially upped his profile with his early announcement and that voters are not rejecting him.

As he did last month, Jeb Bush remains the potential candidate with the most support from Republicans, and he is also the best-known of the candidates tested. Former Governor Mike Huckabee shows the second-highest level of consideration, followed by Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. Respondents could say “yes” to as many or as few candidates as they wanted.

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