Former Vice President Joe Biden is narrowing in on President Donald Trump’s lead in Texas and has surpassed him in Iowa, according a new poll of likely voters in three battleground states.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Thursday, Biden is gaining steam in three states that Trump carried in 2016. The two candidates are tied among likely voters in Georgia.
Poll results show:
- 46% of likely voters in Texas say they back Trump, while 43% say they prefer Biden.
- 45% of likely voters in Georgia say they will vote to reelect Trump. The same amount say they will support Biden.
- 45% of likely voters in Iowa say they will vote for Biden, while 42% say they will vote for Trump.
In 2016, Trump carried Texas by 9.2 percentage points. According to this poll, he only leads by 3 percentage points. The last Democrat to win the state was former President Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Trump won Georgia’s electoral votes by 5.7 percentage points. Voters are currently split on who they plan to vote for. The last time a Democrat won the state was 1992, when former President Bill Clinton captured the votes.
Iowan voters' support for the president has dropped from 2016 when he won the state’s six electoral votes by 9.6 percentage points. Now, voters are leaning toward Biden, according to the poll. In 2012, the state backed former President Barack Obama’s reelection race.
The Senate races in the three states are also narrowly contested. All three feature GOP incumbents who are looking to retain their seats. If their Democrat challengers oust them, Republicans could lose control of the chamber.
In Texas, GOP Sen. John Cornyn has a 6-percentage-point advantage over his challenger MJ Hegar. Among likely voters in the state, 43% say they will reelect Cornyn compared to 37% who support his challenger.
The other two states are more competitive. In Georgia, Republican Sen. David Perdue leads his opponent Jon Ossoff by 3 points with 41% of likely voters backing him and 38% supporting Ossoff.
Iowa’s matchup is leaning Democrat. Democrat challenger Theresa Greenfield has a 2-point lead over incumbent GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. Forty-two percent of likely voters in the state say they want to see a new senator represent them, while 40% want to reelect Ernst.
The Times/Siena poll was conducted Sept. 16-22. The poll surveyed 523 Georgia likely voters, 501 Iowa likely voters and 653 Texas likely voters. The margin of sampling error is 4.9 percentage points in Georgia, 4.99 points in Iowa and 4.3 points in Texas.