OPEN SEAT: Poll Sizes Up Possible Candidates

An early survey by Public Policy Polling, shows which candidates Iowans would favor to take Senator Tom Harkin’s seat after his term.

In a hypothetical Republican primary, Representative Steve King leads the pack with 41-percent, followed by Representative Tom Latham, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds and Bob Vander Plaats. Seventeen-percent surveyed are unsure.

Iowans favor Representative Bruce Braley as the Democratic candidate.

The poll then pitted Braley against all four possible Republicans. In a hypothetical race, Braley leads the favored GOP candidate, King, by 11 points. His largest lead is against Bob Vander Plaats by 18 points and the smallest is a three point gap with Tom Latham.

The margin of error for the GOP portion of the poll is 5.4-percent.