Iowa Poll: Mitt Opens 23 Point Lead Over Rudy

With just over two months until the Iowa caucus, former Gov. Mitt Romney continues to lead the field although a new player is emerging as Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has gained significant ground, according to a new poll. Romney, who has campaigned relentlessly in Iowa and spent millions on ads there, tops all Republicans with 36.2 percent support from likely caucus voters, according to the University of Iowa Hawkeye poll. The next closest candidate is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani with 13.1 percent and Huckabee with 12.8 percent. Huckabee was at just 2 percent in August.Rounding out the top GOP hopefuls in the poll of 285 voters were actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson 11.4 percent followed by Arizona Sen. John McCain at 6 percent. Giuliani continues to top national surveys but the Hawkeye poll shows Romney has increased his lead in Iowa over the ex-Big Apple mayor by eight percentage points. U-Iowa professor David Redlawsk, who conducted the poll, said the results show that Romney remains the clear favorite in Iowa. “We see no . . . candidate catching up to Romney,” Redlawsk said. On the Democratic side, meanwhile, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton continues to lead with 28.9 percent support, followed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with 26.6 percent and John Edwards at 20 percent. View all the poll results at http://www.uiowa.edu/election/.