Recent News

USA TODAY GOP Power Rankings, Week 4: Fiorina is queen of the hill

Debates matter.

On the strength of two strong debate performances, Carly Fiorina has vaulted to first place in USA Today’s GOP Power Rankings, unseating Donald Trump for the first time since we launched this project.

GOP candidates move fast to court Walker’s valuable donor network

Republican presidential candidates moved aggressively Monday to court the donor base of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose abrupt exit from the race left his large national network of financial backers suddenly up for grabs.

The stunning collapse and exit of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Monday provided a jolt to a Republican establishment staring at a presidential primary field dominated by three political novices and led by a populist billionaire.

Party Rules to Streamline Race May Backfire for G.O.P.

When gloomy Republican Party leaders regrouped after President Obama’s 2012 re-election, they were intent on enhancing the party’s chances of winning back the White House. The result: new rules to head off a prolonged and divisive nomination fight, and to make certain the Republican standard-bearer is not pulled too far to the right before Election Day.

There was bad news for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker buried in a story this morning reporting the results of a new CNN poll. While businesswoman Carly Fiorina had surged into second place behind real estate mogul Donald Trump and ahead of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Walker had slid into the tail end of the results:

Five other candidates received less than one-half of 1 percentage point support: former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Gov. Bobby ... Read More >>

Straw poll: Rand Paul tops among Mich. GOP activists

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won the presidential straw poll at this weekend’s Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, capturing 22 percent of the vote among a field of 16 candidates.

Carly Fiorina poll surge has Hillary Clinton scrambling to shed ‘insider’ label

Carly Fiorina’s strong performance in last week’s Republican presidential primary debate has rocketed her up the polls, leaving the top of the GOP field dominated by Washington outsiders and forcing Democrats — especially Hillary Rodham Clinton — scrambling to shed the label of political insider.