Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has an overwhelming early lead of of likely Iowa Democratic caucus participants, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Clinton received 61 percent while Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts got 19 percent and Vice President Joe. Biden got 7 percent, the poll finds. No other candidate tops 5 percent. Six percent are undecided.
If Clinton decides not to run, Warren is the choice of 36 percent and Biden 32 percent. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont gets 8 percent with 17 percent undecided.
“The Democratic race in the Iowa Caucuses a year before the voting can be summarized pretty succinctly: Hillary Clinton is the huge favorite,” Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Peter A. Brown. “If she chooses not to run, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vice President Joseph Biden are likely to begin at the top of a pack with other candidates scrambling to get into the race.”
Iowa likely Democratic Caucus participants give Clinton a 90 – 7 percent favorability rating. Five percent of caucus-goers are less likely to vote for Clinton because her husband was president, while 29 percent are more likely and 65 percent say it will make no difference. Seventy three percent of Democrats say the fact that Clinton would be the first woman president makes no difference in their choice.
Biden leads in one negative category, as 12 percent of likely Iowa Democratic Caucus participants say they “would definitely not support him,” with 6 percent saying the same about Clinton.
A majority of people say they don’t know about Sanders, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley Sanders and Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia to form opinions about them.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 619 likely Iowa Democratic caucus participants on land lines and cell phones from Feb. 16 – 23 with a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and the nation.