Quinnipiac’s final poll of the Iowa Senate race finds Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst tied at 47 percent. The poll shows Braley closing the gap from Quinnipiac’s previous poll in late October that showed him trailing Ernst by four points, 49 percent to 45 percent.
The Quinnipiac survey shows a much closer race than the final poll from the Des Moines Register, which gave Ernst a 7-point lead and 51 percent of the vote to Braley’s 44 percent. The Real Clear Politics average of polls gives Ernst only a small, 1.4-point advantage.
As both campaigns wrap up their swings around the Hawkeye State, Democratic senator Tom Harkin, who is retiring from the seat after this election, told supporters not to be fooled by Ernst simply because she is “really attractive” and “sounds nice.”
“I don’t care if she’s as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, but if she votes like Michele Bachmann, she’s wrong for the state of Iowa,” said Harkin in a video obtained by BuzzFeed.
Ernst responded Monday morning, saying she was “very offended” by Harkin’s remarks. “I think it’s unfortunate that he and many in their party believe that you can’t be a real woman if you’re conservative and female,” Ernst said on Fox News.
