Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are currently in a dead heat in Iowa.
Sanders of Vermont garners 41 percent of support by likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, the state where the first 2016 presidential race votes will be cast, in a new Quinnipiac University poll. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at 40 percent, putting her tied with Sanders because of the poll’s margin of error.
Vice President Joe Biden, who is still mulling a presidential bid, is the first choice of 12 percent of Iowans.
The new poll results are a noticeable change from the poll’s July results, in which Clinton was at 52 percent, Sanders at 33 percent and Biden at 7 percent.
The poll also shows a gender gap leading up to voting day, with Sanders leading Clinton 49 percent to 28 percent among men and Clinton leading Sanders 49 percent to 35 percent among women.
“Sanders has seized the momentum by offering a message more in line with disproportionately liberal primary and caucus voters,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the poll, said in a statement. “He is the candidate of the Democratic Left, against his own party’s bosses and their prized presidential candidate, Secretary Hillary Clinton.”
Sanders and Biden also have a higher net favorability rating than Clinton and higher ratings for honesty and empathy. Clinton does best when asked about leadership and temperament to handle an international crisis.
The poll was conducted Aug. 27-Sept. 8 of roughly 8320 likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
