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Bernie Sanders gaining momentum in presidential race
01:58 - Source: CNN

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Sanders' support jumped from 15% of likely Democratic caucus participants in Quinnipiac's May poll to 33% in the latest survey.

Clinton's support, meanwhile, dropped from 60% to 52% in the same period.

Washington CNN  — 

Support for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is growing among Iowa Democrats, but Hillary Clinton remains the clear Democratic frontrunner, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday,

Sanders’ support jumped from 15% of likely Democratic caucus participants in Quinnipiac’s May poll to 33% in the latest survey. Clinton’s support, meanwhile, dropped from 60% to 52% in the same period.

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“Clinton should not be biting her fingernails over her situation in the Iowa caucus, but her lead is slipping and Sanders is making progress against her. Her 52% score among likely caucus-goers is still OK, but this is the first time she has been below 60% in Quinnipiac University’s Iowa survey,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement.

Clinton has held onto a commanding lead among the pack of Democratic contenders. But voters seeking an alternative seemed to have largely coalesced around Sanders, the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist and longtime Vermont lawmaker.

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Other Democratic contenders, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, all continue to pull single-digit support.

Sanders drew a crowd of 9,600 supporters for a rally in Madison, Wisconsin Wednesday night, as he has largely adopted the mantle for liberal activists who tried unsuccessfully to lure Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren into the race.