Ben Carson is beating Donald Trump in this hugely important state

By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor

Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

CPAC 2015
UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 26: Dr. Ben Carson speaks to address the crowd at CPAC in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Photograph by Bill Clark — CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images

Ben Carson has pulled ahead of top GOP presidential contender Donald Trump in Iowa, the latest Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll shows.

Bloomberg reported that Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has 28% support from those potentially participating in Iowa’s upcoming caucus. Trump, meanwhile, has 19% of the likely participants. Carson has seen a 10% surge in his polling figures since August, while Trump’s numbers have declined by 4%.

“His standing has improved in every way pollsters traditionally measure,” said J. Ann Selzer, the president of West Des Moines-based Selzer & Co., the firm in charge of conducting the poll, to Bloomberg. “This might be a wake-up for Donald Trump.”

Jeb Bush, meanwhile, has just 5% support.

The poll was conducted from Oct. 16-19 and surveyed 401 “likely” Republican caucus participants.

On Thursday, Trump stirred controversy with a retweet that slammed Carson for his lead in Iowa. Trump later deleted the tweet, saying an intern sent it out.