US election: Iowa poll gives Harris surprise edge

Kamala Harris has overtaken Donald Trump in a new poll in Iowa, a state the Republican presidential nominee won with a wide margin in the last two US elections.

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll put the Democrat three points ahead, leading Trump 47% to 44%.

Harris' lead is within the 3.4 percentage point margin of error, but marks a notable turnaround from a September Iowa Poll that gave Trump a four-point edge, the newspaper reported. 

"The poll shows that women — particularly those who are older or who are politically independent — are driving the late shift toward Harris," the Register said.

Trump won Iowa, which has trended Republican in recent years, by more than 9 percentage points in 2016 and by 8 points in 2020.

The Trump campaign released a memo from its chief pollster calling the Des Moines Register poll "a clear outlier."

It said a weekend Emerson College poll, which gave Trump a 10-point lead, more closely reflected the Iowa electorate. That poll also has a 3.4 percentage point margin of error.

Whoever wins Iowa will get six Electoral College votes. A total of 270 are needed to win the White House.