Six days to go till the election and Iowa Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst is “inching ahead among likely voters” in her bid for a U.S. Senate seat, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll Wednesday.
Ernst “closing in on Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat,” said Peter Brown, assistant poll director. He found she has “the momentum with less than a week left in the campaign.”
He added "Nothing is for sure, but one would certainly rather be in her shoes this morning than Braley's.”
Ernst has opened up a 49 to 45 percent lead over Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley. More than nine of 10 likely voters who name a Senate candidate said their mind is made up.
Ernst got a boost from independent voters, who give her a 9 percentage point edge, and is doing better with men than Braley is doing with women.
And, said Brown, “In what was a strongly negative campaign, she emerged from the mud-slinging with voters liking her a bit more, usually an advantage that tends to translate into votes."