Grassley up by 12 points in reelection bid: poll

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is leading his Democratic challenger Mike Franken by 12 points, according to a new poll. 

A survey released Saturday from the Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa Poll showed the incumbent ahead with 53 percent to Franken’s 41 percent among Iowans who say they’ll definitely vote or have already voted.  

Both candidates have raked in support from most of their respective parties, but independents now appear to favor Grassley, a reversal of the results from October’s poll.

The results indicate Grassley’s lead over Franken, a retired Navy admiral, is widening — a similar poll released last month showed the incumbent ahead by just 3 percentage points, or 46 percent to 43 percent.  

Still, the 12-point margin is slimmer than usual for Grassley, who has served in the upper chamber for more than four decades.  

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report last month shifted the Senate race from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican,” suggesting the Democrat was complicating the race for the longtime incumbent.   

Former President Trump stumped for Grassley in Iowa last month in a bid to boost the longtime senator’s standing in the race.  

Conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 3 by the firm Selzer & Co., the poll surveyed 801 likely voters and had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.