Poll: Clinton up 9 over Sanders in Iowa

Hillary Clinton has the edge in Iowa over Bernie Sanders less than 10 days before the caucuses there, according to a new poll.

Nine points separate the Democratic presidential candidates in an Emerson College Polling Society survey released late Thursday.

{mosads}Clinton takes 52 percent to Sanders’s 43 percent among likely primary voters in the Hawkeye State.

Clinton also has an advantage over Sanders among Iowa’s registered Democrats, pollsters found. She receives 54 percent support to his 42 percent.

Sanders sneaks past Clinton in support among Democratic-leaning registered independents, however. He leads, with 44 percent to her 36 percent.

Clinton is also struggling with her favorability in Iowa, the pollsters reported. She received a 53 percent unfavorable rating and a 42 percent favorable rating, making her net favorability minus 11.

The White House hopefuls are battling for dominance in Iowa before its crucial Feb. 1 vote.

Clinton maintains the slight edge of 3.2 points in the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls there.

But Sanders is chipping away at her lead in other polls. He overtook his rival, 51 percent to Clinton’s 43 percent, in a CNN-ORC poll released late Thursday. That poll had Clinton leading by 18 points in December.

Emerson College polled 258 registered Democratic and Democratic-leaning independents likely to vote in Iowa’s caucuses Jan. 18-20.

Pollsters surveyed respondents via telephone interviews with a 6.1 percentage point margin of error.