Latest IA Poll Shows No Change At the Top

Another survey of likely caucus voters in Iowa finds Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton in the lead once again.

The new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll conducted October 1-3 measures Romney’s support at 29 percent, virtually the same level measured back in the paper’s last poll in May (30 percent).

While Romney has experienced a small downturn in support in some New Hampshire public polls during the past month, he has not relinquished his lead in surveys of Hawkeye State voters. In the new Iowa Poll, Romney has an 11-point lead over Fred Thompson (18 percent). Romney also held a 12-point lead over Giuliani and Thompson in the September Los Angeles Times poll, a 9-point lead over Thompson in the late September Newsweek poll, and a 1-point lead over Rudy Giuliani in the September American Research Group poll (within the margin of error).

The Des Moines Register poll finds Mike Huckabee in third place at 12 percent, followed by Rudy Giuliani (11 percent), John McCain (7 percent), Tom Tancredo (5 percent), Ron Paul (4 percent), Sam Brownback (2 percent), Alan Keyes (2 percent), and Duncan Hunter (1 percent).

On the Democratic side, Clinton also led the way with 29 percent, with still-competitive John Edwards (23 percent) and Barack Obama (22 percent) close behind. It is unclear how much support for Edwards and Obama is ‘anti-Clinton,’ but it is likely both Edwards and Obama are to some degree splitting the anti-Clinton vote to her advantage. Obama’s campaign is well-funded and Edwards is unlikely to depart the race before the Iowa Caucuses; so unless and until one of these challengers departs the race neither may be in a competitive position to overtake Clinton nationwide.

Rounding out Democrats, the Iowa Poll found Bill Richardson in fourth place as per usual (8 percent), followed by Joe Biden (5 percent), Chris Dodd (1 percent), and Dennis Kucinich (1 percent).

In a bit of a rarity this election season, more Democratic caucus voters (11 percent) were unsure as to which candidate they would support compared to those voting in the Republican caucus (9 percent).