A new poll recently showed that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was steadily closing in on Donald Trump's lead in Iowa, trailing the GOP front-runner by just 2 points.

A survey from Quinnipiac University released on Monday found Trump was still in the lead in the crowded Republican field with 31 points. However, Cruz was right on his tail with 29 points, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. Trump's slim lead also fell within the poll's 4-point margin of error.

Despite his slight lead, the poll showed that voters in the Hawkeye State had a more favorable opinion of Cruz than the billionaire businessman. Respondents also said they were more open to the possibility of voting for Cruz and thought that he was stronger on foreign policy, more trustworthy and more empathetic than the real estate mogul. However, they said Trump was better suited to handle the issues they find most important: the economy and terrorism.

"The Iowa Republican caucuses are tight as a tick entering the final two weeks of the campaign," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, reports The New York Times. "Voters like Senator Ted Cruz better than Donald Trump and give him much higher scores for honesty, empathy, experience and for sharing their values."

In addition, Cruz won over more than one-third of white, evangelical Republican voters, an important constituency that tends to makes up the majority of GOP caucusgoers. Trump, however, attracted 27 percent of the evangelical vote.

The poll, which was conducted between Jan. 5 and Jan. 10, also showed Cruz had support from more people who consider themselves very conservative, have a college degree, and an income between $50,000 and $100,000. On the other hand, Trump's supporters appeared to be less educated, and earned either less than $50,000 or more than $100,000.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in third place in the poll with 15 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 7 percent, and Chris Christie at 4 percent. Both Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee slipped to 3 percent, while John Kasich, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Santorum received 2 percent or less.

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