New York Daily News

Trump on top, Hil & Bern so close: last poll

- BYRICH SCHAPIRO

DONALDTed is clingingCr­uz in to Iowa, TRUMPa razor while thin has Hillarylea­d leap-froggedove­r Clinton Bernie Sanders,The GOPa new front-runnerpoll shows. garnered the support compared of to 28% 23% of for BuckeyeCru­z, accordingS­tate votersto the ter/Bloombergf­inal Des Politics Moinespoll releasedRe­gis-two But days Cruz, ahead whoof the had caucuses.been leading in Iowa,than Trump,is still more according popularto the and latest respectedp­oll.

stronger“The drill-down alignment shows,with if Cruz anything, than Trump,Ann Selzer, except the for pollsterth­e horse for race,”the Iowa said Poll.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was in third place with 15%, while former neurosurge­on Ben Carson captured 10%.

Clinton is edging Sanders by three percentage points — 45% to 42%.

The poll emerged hours after GOP front-runner Donald Trump made a final pitch to evangelica­l Christians.

In a video posted to Facebook on Saturday, Trump thanked evangelica­ls for their support — vowing to “never let you down.”

“I really appreciate the support given to me by the evangelica­ls,” said Trump. “They’ve been incredible. Every poll says how well I’m doing with them.”

According to a CBS News poll, Trump has cut Sen. Ted Cruz’s advantage with evangelica­ls, a key voting bloc, in Iowa. Cruz has 38% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 30%.

In the video, Trump even held up a Bible — saying his mother had given it to him “years ago.”

“In fact, it’s her writing right here,” he said. “She wrote the name and my address . . . it’s just very special to me.”

At this past Thursday’s GOP debate on Fox News, which Trump sat out, Cruz fought to make sure he was positioned at center stage — but did little to take advantage of the opportunit­y.

Nonetheles­s, Cruz, who has raised $19 million, has visited all 99 counties in Iowa, courting evangelica­l voters since the summer.

“There will be a lot of momentum swings,” Jeff Roe, Cruz’s campaign manager, told CNN about the prospects of losing to Trump. “I’m not going to be beholden to what a headline says after any state. That’s not the way our campaign is structured.”

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