2014 Watch

Poll: Iowa Senate race a dead heat

The latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll in the Iowa Senate race shows the race getting closer between Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst and Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

Ernst has 47 percent, to Braley with 46 percent. The survey of likely voters was conducted from Oct. 3 to 8, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

"Braley's catching up," said polling director Ann Selzer. In the previous survey that her firm conducted for the Register two weeks ago, Ernst had a lead of six points, 44 percent to 38 percent.

Democrats have in fact been putting a lot of effort in to help Braley catch up, most notably a campaign stop yesterday by First Lady Michelle Obama — though unfortunately, she kept saying his name wrong, as "Bruce Bailey," until the crowd itself actually corrected her.