Bernie Sanders' gained steam in Iowa with a 9-point surge, while Hillary Clinton lost 12 points, adding up to a a 41-40% edge by the liberal senator from Vermont over the former secretary of state in the first state to apportion delegates in the Democratic race for president, according to the latest Quinnipiac University survey.
Clinton held a 52-33% lead over Sanders in the same poll a month earlier.
The poll also shows a jump in support for Joe Biden, who has acknowledged that he is considering joining the competition. The vice president rose from 7% in July to 12% among Iowa Democrats, as measured by the Quinnipiac University poll.
Read the Quinnipiac University poll summary.
Clinton, who has been the presumptive frontrunner among Democrats, now faces the possibility of losing to Sanders in the first two 2016 contests. She is also trailing him in New Hampshire, where a primary vote will be held soon after the Iowa caucuses in January.
"Sen. Bernie Sanders has become the Eugene McCarthy of 2016," Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Peter A. Brown said. "He is the candidate of the Democratic left, against his own party's bosses and their prized presidential candidate, Secretary Hillary Clinton."
Sanders offers "a message more in line with disproportionately liberal primary and caucus voters," Brown said. "But unlike the late Sen. McCarthy, who came on strong just before the 1968 primaries, Sen. Sanders has seized the momentum, five months before voting begins in Iowa."
New poll: Bernie Sanders closes gap with Hillary Clinton in Iowa http://t.co/YqqEdLeZN1 #NewDayCNN pic.twitter.com/erigjSTmAG
-- New Day (@NewDay) September 10, 2015
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