Hillary Clinton and Sen Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) are locked in a statistical tie for the Democratic nomination following the Iowa caucuses.
Clinton currently captures 44 percent of the vote among likely Democratic primary voters, while Sanders holds 42 percent support, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Friday. However, the 2 percentage points that separate the two Democratic presidential candidates is smaller than the margin of error, indicating that the two are virtually tied.
Eleven percent of Democrats say that they remain undecided, according to the survey conducted in the days after Clinton narrowly beat Sanders by 0.2 percentage points in the Iowa Democratic caucus.
An identical survey conducted at the end of December had Clinton leading Sanders by more than 30 percentage points for the Democratic nomination. Since, the former secretary of state has endured increased criticism for her use of a private, unsecured email server to conduct sensitive government business during her time in the Obama administration.
Last week, the State Department confirmed that 22 emails on Clinton’s personal server contain top secret information. Clinton has insisted that she never sent nor received information marked classified on her private email, her campaign characterizing the revelations about her email use as a partisan attempt to damage her presidential ambitions.
The poll released Friday also found that Clinton’s favorable rating has continued to waiver amid the email controversy, with 39 percent of voters nationwide viewing her favorably and 56 percent unfavorably. Among most demographics, including women, Clinton is more likely to be viewed negatively than positively.
The poll comes just days before Sanders and Clinton compete in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire, where the Vermont senator maintains a solid lead over the former first lady.