For the first time in the presidential campaign Kamala Harris has stepped over opponent Donald Trump in a surprise poll in the ruby red state of Iowa.
Harris leads Trump in Iowa 47 percent to 44 percent among likely voters in the reputable Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll, a result the newspaper calls a "startling reversal" in a Republican state that has notably shifted to the right in the past decades.
Women — particularly those who are older or "politically independent" — are driving the "late shift toward Harris," the Register reported.
While falling behind Harris in the poll, Trump continues to lead with his core supporters: men, evangelicals, rural residents and those without a college degree, the poll found.
The state had been assumed to be a "certain Trump victory," the Register noted.
"It's hard for anybody to say they saw this coming," said pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co, which conducted the survery. Harris has "clearly leaped into a leading position."
A September Iowa polll showed Trump with a 4-point lead over Harris. He had an 18-point lead over President Joe Biden in a June Iowa poll when Biden was expected to be Trump's opponent.
In the latest survey 3 percent still aren't sure of their choice, and 2 percent declined to reveal for whom they had voted. Three percent said they were choosing RFK Jr., who is no longer running, and not quite one percent chose LIbertarian candidate Chase Oliver.
The poll of 808 likely Iowa voters included those who have already voted and those who said they definitely plan to vote. It was conducted Oct. 28-31, and has margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
