A new Quinnipiac University Poll finds Republican Senator Chuck Grassley nine points ahead of Democratic challenger Patty Judge. Peter Brown, the assistant director of the poll, says that’s a “healthy margin” for Grassley.
“Mr. Grassley is not suffering the same kinds of problems as many Republican incumbents are around the country because of the poor showing of presidential nominee Donald Trump,” Brown says.
The Quinnipiac University Poll found the presidential race in Iowa is tight, with Hillary Clinton three points ahead of Trump.
“That’s not enough to be outside the margin of error, so Quinnipiac considers it a statistical tie in that case,” Brown says.
Ninety-three-percent of the Iowa Republicans polled said they will vote for Grassley, while 91 percent of the Democrats said they’ll vote for Judge.
“But where Mr. Grassley’s actually winning the race is among independents,” Brown says. “He has a very healthy 57 to 37 percent margin over Ms. Judge.”
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month showed Grassley with a 10 point lead. If the election were held today, the Quinnipiac Poll indicates Grassley would win with 51 percent of the vote compared to 42 percent for Judge.
Grassley is seeking a seventh term in the U.S. Senate. He got 64 percent of the vote in his 2010 race and around 70 percent support in his reelection bids in 2004 and 1998. His closest race for the senate was in 1980 when he won 53 percent of the vote in defeating incumbent Democrat John Culver.