79% of Iowa Republicans say they would vote for a candidate OTHER than Trump – as he skips another debate and recovers from brutal fraud ruling

Republicans in Iowa are divided over whether Donald Trump should be the Republican nominee for president, a new poll shows.

The CBS/YouGov survey found that 79 percent of voters would vote for a candidate other than the former president.

Twenty percent of voters say they are only thinking about Trump, while 48 percent choose between the former president and other candidates.

Meanwhile, 31 percent are not considering voting for him, leaving 79 percent open or determined to vote for a candidate other than the favorite.

But the same poll, conducted between September 15 and 24, also found that members viewed Trump as the frontrunner in the Hawkeye State.

In New Hampshire, 23 percent of voters are willing to support Trump, while 43 percent are keeping their options open and 34 percent are only considering candidates other than Trump, the poll found.

Despite the numbers, Trump still has a significant lead over his competition when voters were asked who they would vote for if the election were held today.

In Iowa, Trump would have the support of 51 percent of Republicans, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in second with 21 percent and U.S. Ambassador and United Nations Nikki Haley in third with 8 percent.

In New Hampshire, Trump leads with 50 percent, DeSantis with 30 percent and Haley with 11 percent.

The poll is based on representative samples of 1,011 registered voters in Iowa and 943 in New Hampshire.

The samples were weighted by gender, age, race, education, and geographic region based on the US Census Current Population Survey and past voting.

Of those surveyed, 62 percent of Republicans in Iowa and 53 percent of Republican voters in New Hampshire called the debates an “important factor” in choosing a supporter.

Trump, the early Republican presidential candidate who skipped the first debate, will also be missing from the stage at the second debate in California – instead holding an event in the battleground state of Michigan.

The field for the second Republican presidential debate will be smaller than the first.

Seven candidates qualified for Wednesday night’s debate at Ronald Reagan’s presidential library in California, the Republican National Committee said, confirming that former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was not honored this time.

The debate comes after Judge Arthur Engoron issued a blistering summary judgment finding that Donald Trump and his company were guilty of fraud

Seven candidates qualified for Wednesday night’s debate at Ronald Reagan’s presidential library in California, the Republican National Committee said, confirming that former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was not honored this time.

To qualify for the second debate, the candidates needed at least 3 percent support in two national polls or 3 percent in one national poll, as well as two polls from four of the early voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The White House hopefuls also needed at least 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 coming from 20 states or territories.

They also had to sign an RNC pledge pledging to support the party’s eventual nominee.

As the debate got underway, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie attacked Trump for skipping the debate

As the debate got underway, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie attacked Trump for skipping the debate.

Citing a comment from Mike Pence, who blamed politicians like Vivek Ramaswamy for the Republican Party’s dysfunction, Univision’s Ilia Calderón asked Christie: “If the government shuts down, should voters blame populist Republicans?” ‘

“Everyone who is in Washington DC is sent there to do the job, and they haven’t been able to do that for a long time,” Christie responded.

He accused the Biden administration and the Trump administration of increasing the national debt and thereby increasing inflation.

He then criticized Joe Biden for hiding “in his basement” while Donald Trump “hides behind the walls of his golf clubs.”

“He should be in this room answering those questions for the people you talked about who are suffering,” said Christie, one of the few open Trump critics on stage.

The debate comes after Judge Arthur Engoron issued a blistering summary judgment finding that Donald Trump and his company were guilty of fraud.

Engoron ruled that Trump committed years of fraud in building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House, after prosecutors accused him of inflating real estate valuations at lenders and lowering them to the tax authorities.

In response, the former president told Truth Social that it was “a very sad day for the New York State justice system.”