New poll: Biden with slight edge in Iowa with caucuses 2 weeks out

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Fox News media analyst Howard Kurtz breaks down the final presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses.

With two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, a new poll indicates that former Vice President Joe Biden has a slight edge over his 2020 rivals for the Democratic nomination in the state that kicks off the presidential primary and caucus calendar.

Biden stands at 24 percent support among likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa in the survey released Monday by Focus on Rural America, which touts itself as a non-partisan organization pushing progressive causes and promoting economic messages for rural America.

IOWA WIDE OPEN AHEAD OF CAUCUSES, WITH MANY DEMOCRATIC VOTERS STILL UNDECIDED

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts registers at 18 percent, with former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 16 percent, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 14 percent, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of neighboring Minnesota at 11 percent.

While Biden’s numbers were basically unchanged from the Focus on Rural America’s previous poll – released in September – Warren dropped 5 percentage points, Sanders soared 5 points, Buttigieg jumped 4 points and Klobuchar rose 3 points.

Billionaire environmental and progressive advocate Tom Steyer stands at 4 percent support in the survey, with tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 3 percent. Everyone else tested registered at 1 percent or less.

People participate in the Democartic caucus at the Iowa State Historical Society in Des Moines, Iowa Feb. 1, 2016. REUTERS/Brian C. Frank 

The poll was conducted Jan. 15-18, with 500 likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa questioned by live telephone operators.

The survey was taken after last Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa and seems to suggest that the prime-time clash between Sanders and Warren over sexism in politics and whether or not Sanders told Warren in a private conversation just over a year ago that a female candidate couldn’t beat President Trump in 2020 has negatively impacted both candidates.

When asked if there’s a candidate they wouldn’t support based on the debate, 12 percent of respondents said Warren and 11 percent said Sanders. Steyer was a distant third at 4 percent.

Biden’s advantage in Iowa in the new poll is similar to findings from a Monmouth University survey in the Hawkeye State released a week ago. A Des Moines Register/CNN survey also conducted ahead of the debate indicated Sanders on top of the field.