Former President Donald Trump's lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Iowa is down to 4 points, marking a much closer presidential race than when President Joe Biden was the presumptive Democrat nominee, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.
Trump, the Republican nominee, leads Harris 47% to 43% among likely Iowa voters, the survey found.
A June Iowa Poll showed Trump with a 50%-32% advantage over Biden, who later dropped out of the race following his disastrous debate effort on June 27.
Harris became the Democratic Party’s nominee at the party’s national convention last month.
"I wouldn’t say 4 points is comfortable [for Trump]," said pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., the Des Moines Register reported.
"The race has tightened significantly."
The latest poll included independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (6%), who ended his campaign but will remain on the Iowa ballot.
Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver received 1% support, and 1% of Iowa voters say they would vote for someone else. Another 1% say they are not sure.
The survey also found that 18% said they could change their minds. That’s down from 29% in June.
In the 2020 election, Trump defeated Biden by 8 percentage points.
The latest Iowa poll found a huge gender gap. Trump leads with the state’s men 59% to 32%, and Harris leads with women 53% to 36%.
Trump and Harris, who both participated in Tuesday's ABC News debate, this week made a beeline for swing states that they hope to flip in their favor this year, both of them trying to expand their narrow paths to victory in a closely fought presidential campaign.
The latest Iowa poll found that Harris' entry into the race has "energized" some voters.
"This poll may be catching newly energized voters who thought they would sit out the election at the time our June poll was taken," Selzer said.
The demographic groups favoring Harris – women, young voters, urban voters, college graduates – are up in terms of being likely voters compared to that in the June poll.
Women show an 8-percentage-point increase in likely voting, Iowans younger than 45 show a 10-point increase, city dwellers show a 6-point increase, and those with a college degree show a 9-point increase.
The Iowa Poll was conducted Sept. 8-11 among 811 Iowans. It has a margin of error of plus/minus 3.8 percentage points for questions asked of 656 likely voters and 3.4 percentage points for those asked of Iowa adults.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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