Support for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is growing among Iowa Democrats, but Hillary Clinton remains the clear Democratic frontrunner, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday,
Sanders’ support jumped from 15% of likely Democratic caucus participants in Quinnipiac’s May poll to 33% in the latest survey. Clinton’s support, meanwhile, dropped from 60% to 52% in the same period.
“Clinton should not be biting her fingernails over her situation in the Iowa caucus, but her lead is slipping and Sanders is making progress against her. Her 52% score among likely caucus-goers is still OK, but this is the first time she has been below 60% in Quinnipiac University’s Iowa survey,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement.
Clinton has held onto a commanding lead among the pack of Democratic contenders. But voters seeking an alternative seemed to have largely coalesced around Sanders, the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist and longtime Vermont lawmaker.
Other Democratic contenders, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, all continue to pull single-digit support.
Sanders drew a crowd of 9,600 supporters for a rally in Madison, Wisconsin Wednesday night, as he has largely adopted the mantle for liberal activists who tried unsuccessfully to lure Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren into the race.