Grassley leading Franken by 3 points in reelection bid: poll

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.) has a 3-point lead over Democratic challenger Mike Franken in Iowa’s Senate race, according to a new Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa poll. 

The poll, published on Sunday, found that 46 percent of likely voters said they’ll vote for Grassley in November’s midterm election, while 43 percent of respondents offered their support for Franken. 

Ninety-three percent of Democratic respondents said they’ll vote for Franken, a former Navy veteran, in next month’s election, while 4 percent of Democrats surveyed said they will cast their vote for Grassley. 

Ninety percent of Republican respondents, meanwhile, said they’ll vote for Grassley, who’s serving his seventh term in the Senate, in next month’s election, while 2 percent of Republicans said they will cast their vote for his opponent.

Among independent voters, 46 percent of respondents said they’ll cast their vote for Franken, while 35 percent of those surveyed said they’ll vote for Grassley, according to the poll. 

Forty-six percent of respondents said they have an unfavorable opinion of the incumbent senator, while 47 percent of those surveyed have a favorable opinion of Grassley. 

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they have a favorable opinion of Franken, while 27 percent of respondents view him unfavorably.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents remain unsure about Franken, who ran for one of Iowa’s two Senate seats in 2020, pollsters noted.

The Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa poll was conducted from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12, with a total of 804 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.