Hillary Clinton has solidified her lead in Iowa, leading Bernie Sanders by 22 points among likely caucus-goers.
The Democratic front-runner took 55 percent of the vote, followed by Sanders with 33 percent and Martin O’Malley trailing behind at 6 percent, according to the latest Monmouth poll. Among past voters who are considered most likely to turn up on caucus day, Clinton leads by an ever greater margin of 27 points, 57 percent to Sanders’ 30 percent.
Turnout in the Iowa caucuses has historically been unpredictable. While 240,000 voters showed up in 2008, when there was a three-way race between Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, it is expected only 100,000 will for the 2016 caucus.
“The core of this electorate is going to be registered Democrats. And Clinton appears to have that group firmly in her corner,” Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray, said.
Clinton also holds a substantial lead among female voters, 61 percent to 27 percent, as well as a smaller lead among male voters, 47 percent to 42 percent. While the former secretary of state continues to hold the lead among caucus-goers 50 and older, Sanders still gets the vote of the younger generation, leading Clinton 58-38 among caucus-goers under age 50.
