Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has reclaimed her lead by wide margins in Iowa, according to a new Monmouth University poll.
The former secretary of state has risen to 65 percent support among likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers, just two days after she and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders held dueling campaign rallies in the earliest voting state.
Meanwhile, Sanders, who led Clinton in a separate poll last month, has fallen to a distant second at 24 percent. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley continues to trail both top-tier candidates, earning just 5 percent support among Iowa Democrats, Clinton has led in other Iowa polls, but by a much narrower margin.
Clinton’s 41-point lead over Sanders comes on the heels of her crisp performance in the first Democratic debate, day-long Benghazi testimony and Vice President Joe Biden’s decision to forego a White House bid of his own. The series of events led much of the mainstream media to declare last week Clinton’s “best week” yet.
The Monmouth University poll, which was taken after Biden’s announcement and Clinton’s testimony, also shows the former first lady leading Sanders among male (55-33) and female (73-16) voters in the Hawkeye State. Clinton also enjoys majority support among survey respondents who identify as very liberal (57 percent), somewhat liberal (68 percent) or moderate (69 percent). Sanders ranges from 19 to 34 percent support among these groups.
Even better news for Clinton is the 40 percent of respondents who indicated they have no plans to shift their support to a different Democratic candidate between now and the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. A similar poll of Republican caucus-goers released Monday found the same was true for just 19 percent of right-leaning voters in Iowa who face a GOP field with nearly four times as many candidates as the Democrats.
Both Clinton and Sanders also hold strong favorability ratings in the latest poll — 88 percent for Clinton, 77 percent for Sanders. While O’Malley has a net-positive rating of 50-14 percent, 36 percent of Democratic caucus-goers said they are too unfamiliar with him to give an opinion.
The survey of 400 Democratic voters in Iowa was conducted from Oct. 22-25. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 4.9 percent.
