Former President Trump leads President Biden in Iowa by 15 points in a hypothetical match-up, according to a poll released Tuesday, a significant increase over his 2020 election margin in a good sign for the likely GOP nominee.
Trump has about 48 percent support among Hawkeye State voters compared to Biden’s 33 percent, according to the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll. A sizable 15 percent said they support a candidate outside of the two major party favorites.
The 15-point margin for Trump is nearly twice his margin of victory in the 2020 election over Biden: 8 percent.
Trump cruised to victory in the January’s Iowa caucuses and has performed well in the GOP primaries so far. He is likely to take a majority of the Super Tuesday races over rival Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor.
Biden faces a low approval rating in Iowa, just 29 percent. Among independents, about 80 percent said the country is heading in the wrong direction, according to the poll.
Age is also a concern for Biden, as about 56 percent of respondents said the president is too old to serve a second term in office. Just under a quarter said the same of Trump.
The issue has taken center stage in the 2024 race between Biden, 81, and Trump, 77.
While Biden is not expected to be competitive in Iowa in the general election, the wide margin could be a poor sign for the rest of the campaign. Early polls show Trump with a 2 percent lead over the president nationally, according to the Decision Desk HQ average.
The Iowa poll was conducted Feb. 25-28 among 804 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.