Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are in a virtual tie in Iowa, according to survey results released Wednesday, while Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., are dimming among registered voters.
The poll — commissioned by Focus on Rural America, a Democratic group headed by former Iowa Democratic Lt. Gov. Patty Judge and Iowa strategist Jeff Link — found Biden at 25% and Warren at 23%.
The survey of 500 registered voters was conducted Saturday through Tuesday by David Binder, who is Harris' chief pollster, Politico reports.
Here are the survey's top six finishers:
- Joe Biden: 25%.
- Elizabeth Warren: 23%.
- Pete Buttigieg: 12%.
- Bernie Sanders: 9%.
- Amy Klobuchar: 8%.
- Kamala Harris: 5%.
The poll also included billionaire Tom Steyer, who declared his candidacy in July. He finished behind Harris at 3%.
Iowa holds its caucuses in February, in the first contest of the 2020 primary season.
"At this stage, the race is still fluid but it's also very close," Link told Politico. "Once again, organization matters.
"It will be imperative for Biden to match the Warren organization to maintain this lead," he added. "And, rural counties could make the difference, because they are harder to organize."
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee cited the survey as evidence that Sanders is imploding in Iowa, where his rise was fueled against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primaries.
Sanders is now running "neck-and-neck" with Klobuchar — "yes, Klobuchar is still running" — the RNC said Wednesday in a media email.
"All signs point to the fact that Bernie and his radical agenda are not electable," the committee continued. "This is yet another major blow for the 2016 Iowa runner-up."
The poll for Focus on Rural America has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.