Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders has soared past rival Hillary Clinton in a new poll out of the first-in-the-nation caucuses state of Iowa.
The CNN-ORC poll released Thursday shows Sanders with 51 percent support compared to Clinton's 43 percent, a stark turnaround from last month's poll that saw Clinton leading by 18 points, 54 percent to 36 percent.
Among respondents who participated in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, Clinton beat Sanders 55 percent to 38 percent. The former secretary of state also still leads by 4.7 percent in RealClearPolitics' average of Iowa polls, though the race has become considerably closer over the past few months, notes The Hill.
Sixty percent of Democrats said Clinton is most likely to win the general election. However, caucus-goers trust Sanders 22 points more than Clinton when it comes to then economy, and 67 percent said they thought he would better serve the middle class compared to 30 percent who felt the same about Clinton.
As for foreign policy, respondents, by 40 points, favored Clinton and her four years as the nation's top diplomat.
On the other side of the fence, Republican contender Donald Trump leads Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas among likely GOP caucus-goers, 37 percent to 26 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio follows in third with 14 percent, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson trails in fourth with 6 percent.
The poll was conducted among 280 likely Democratic caucus-goers and 286 Republicans from Jan. 15 to 20. Both samples have a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points. It comes just 10 days before voters meet to caucus in the state.
Three polls released this week out of New Hampshire also show Sanders leading Clinton. One from CNN/WMUR has Sanders with 60 percent to Clinton's 33 percent, while he beat Clinton 49 percent to 43 percent in an ARG poll and came in with 46 percent to Clinton's 43 percent in a Gravis poll.
