Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders is leading by 9 percentage points over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire and catching up to her in Iowa, two new NBC/Marist polls said Sunday.
In the New Hampshire poll from this month, Mr. Sanders, an independent, comes in at 41 percent; Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, at 32 percent; and Vice President Joseph R. Biden at 16 percent. This is in contrast to the poll conducted in July, in which Mrs. Clinton had 42 percent, Mr. Sanders had 32 percent and Mr. Biden 12 percent.
In Iowa, Mrs. Clinton still is ahead, but her support is eroding while Mr. Sanders is closing the gap. Mrs. Clinton had 49 percent in July, but she dropped to 38 percent in September. Mr. Sanders increased slightly from 25 percent in July to 27 percent in September. Mr. Biden saw a jump from 10 percent in July to 20 percent in September.
As for the GOP 2016 presidential candidates, real estate mogul Donald Trump still leads in New Hampshire with 28 percent, Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 12 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 11 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush at 8 percent.
In July, Mr. Trump was at 21 percent, Mr. Kasich at 7 percent, Mr. Carson at 6 percent and Mr. Bush at 12 percent.
In Iowa, Mr. Trump leads the poll with 29 percent; Mr. Carson, 22 percent; Mr. Bush, 6 percent; and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, 5 percent.
In July, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was in first place with 19 percent, with Mr. Trump in second place at 17 percent. Mr. Bush was third at 12 percent followed by Mr. Carson at 8 percent. Mrs. Fiorina was at 1 percent then.
“The NBC/Marist poll of Iowa was conducted Aug. 26-Sept. 2 of 998 registered voters (margin of error +/- 3.1 percentage points), 390 potential GOP caucus-goers (+/- 5.0) and 345 potential Democratic caucus-goers (+/- 5.3),” NBC News reported. “The NBC/Marist poll of New Hampshire was conducted Aug. 26-Sept. 2 of 966 registered voters (+/- 3.2%), 413 potential GOP primary voters (+/- 4.8) and 356 potential Democratic primary voters (+/- 5.2).”
To see both polls in their entirety, click here and here.
• Maria Stainer can be reached at mstainer@washingtontimes.com.
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