Bernie Sanders came out ahead of Hillary Clinton Among Democrats voting in the Iowa State Fair straw poll last week, the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office reported on Monday. But the biggest political draw was Donald Trump and his helicopter.
The final straw poll vote tally gave self-identified socialist Bernie Sanders 49 percent to email-challenged Hillary Clinton’s 45 percent. In third among Democrats was Martin O’Malley with a low 3.38 percent of the vote.
The poll published at the Iowa Secretary of State’s website also reported that Donald Trump was the heavy favorite over the large field of GOP candidates, with the next closest candidate being Dr. Ben Carson. Trump, pulling in 28.81 percent, and Carson, who polled 20.29 percent, were far and away the favorites of Republican fairgoers. The third place GOP candidate, Ted Cruz, only pulled in 7.24 percent of the vote. Next came Carly Fiorina (7.21 percent), Marco Rubio (6.44 percent), and Scott Walker (6.27 percent). The rest of the field pulled in much less than 4 percent each.
Trump seems to have been the biggest hit among fairgoers this year, though. His appearance on Saturday heavily overshadowed Hillary Clinton’s walk through the fair, as Trump flew over the venue in his personal helicopter and then, after landing, even gave several kids free rides in the craft.
For his part, socialist Bernie Sanders drew a large crowd for his speech, similarly overshadowing Hillary. Neither Hillary nor Trump addressed the crowds.
A total of 1,315 Democrats and 2,982 Republicans voted in the poll.
The state fair is being held in Des Moines, Iowa, from August 13 to August 23.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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