Less than two month before the election, just one percentage point separates Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst in the race for U.S. Senate in Iowa, according to a new poll released Friday.
The CNN/ORC poll showed Mr. Braley with a paper thin lead over Ms. Ernst, 49 percent to 48 percent, well within the survey’s 4 percentage point margin of error.
The Iowa contest, which is among the handful of competitive races that will decide which party wins majority control of the U.S. Senate in November, remains a toss up.
About 20 percent of likely voters in the poll said they could change their minds before Election Day.
Republicans need a net gain of six seats to seize control of the upper chamber from Democrats, who are expected to lose three seats currently held by the party and have at least another seven in toss-up races, including Iowa.
As is the trend nationwide, the Democrat in Iowa leads among women voters and the Republican leads among men.
Mr. Braley has support of 57 percent of Iowa women and 41 percent of men.
The numbers are reversed for Ms. Ernst. She is backed by 56 percent of Iowa men and 41 percent of the women, according to the poll.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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