“Any way you slice the numbers, you end up with a close race. This is one that bears watching as the campaign unfolds,” said Lee Miringoff of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, referring to a Marist poll in Iowa’s Senate race conducted for NBC News.
Republican Joni Ernst and Democrat Bruce Braley are both at 43%, with 14% undecided. One-third say “they’re unsure of their opinion about the candidates or never heard of them”. Ernst edges out Braley by two points in the fav/unfav rating category.
Looking deeper into the numbers, both Braley and Ernst are polarizing. Braley gets positive marks from 36 percent of voters and a negative rating of 32 percent. Ernst’s fav/unfav rating is 38 percent to 33 percent.