Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is gaining traction among Iowa caucus voters, but still trails far behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic frontrunner.
A new poll shows Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist,” winning 33 percent of likely participants in the Iowa Democratic caucus, while 52 percent said they would vote for Clinton if the Democratic caucus was held today.
The poll was conducted by Quinnipiac University, which surveyed 761 likely Iowa Democratic caucus participants from June 20-29, with a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
Sanders still has a long way to go to catch up to Clinton. However, Thursday’s poll shows he has more than doubled his support from a May 7 Quinnipiac survey that showed him polling at only 15 percent to Clinton’s 60 percent among caucus-goers. Thursday’s poll shows the Vermont progressive having particular appeal among participants who call themselves very liberal, who chose him 47-43 percent over Clinton.
The other possible Democratic contenders remain stuck in the single-digits, with 7 percent of likely caucus-goers favoring Vice President Joe Biden (who has not declared a presidential run), 3 percent choosing former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, 1 percent supporting former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (who is expected to announce his candidacy in the days to come) and statistically 0 percent behind former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.
