Donald Trump has surged ahead of the pack of Republican presidential candidates in the key state of Iowa, knocking off Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who had been the leading contender there, a poll released on Friday showed.

Trump, who has sparred with the soft-spoken Carson over his faith in recent days, earned 27 percent, compared with 21 percent for the retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon.

The university’s July poll found Walker leading among 18 percent of likely participants in the state’s February 1 caucus, followed by Trump and Carson with 10 percent each.

“With five months until the balloting, anything can happen”. Ted Cruz is a distant third at 9 percent. Walker’s 15-point drop can be attributed, in part, to what some see as an inability to energize his base.

The poll was conducted from August 27 to September 8 and surveyed over 1,000 potential caucusgoers. In this poll, Walker tumbled to three percent.

“The Iowa Republican Caucus looks like a two-man race in which the Washington experience that has traditionally been a major measuring stick that voters have used to choose candidates is now a big negative”, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. Marco Rubio drew 5 percent each, while Kentucky Sen.

No other candidates polled in double digits.

Thirty percent of Trump supporters identified Carson as their second choice; 11 percent would go with Cruz. “In fairness to Mr. Trump, those numbers have been coming down in terms of negativity, but he still gets the highest score from those who say they wouldn’t vote for him”.

In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Walker was only ahead of Gov. Bobby Jindal (La.), who received 2 percent support; Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.), Sen. Only 37 percent hold a favorable view of him. Despite the slide, Walker still holds the fourth highest net favorability rating in the state, behind Sen.

Six percent of Iowa likely Republican caucusgoers chose former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “Trump has an edge on leadership, but Carson has a 20-point margin when it comes to having the right temperament and personality to handle an global crisis”.