A new Quinnipiac University poll finds Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton in Iowa. Trump also had the backing of 86 percent of Iowa Republicans surveyed.Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Trump is “solidifying” his support among Republicans who backed other candidates in the Caucuses. “The enthusiasm that I’m seeing out there is at a level that I did not see, quite frankly, with McCain or with Mitt Romney,” Kaufmann says. Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, calls Iowa a “battleground state.”

“Iowa could absolutely be the state that gets Hillary over the 270 mark (in the Electoral College),” Mook said. “…We run thousands of scenarios each night here on the campaign to look at where states stack up and Iowa continues to be right at the heart of those pivotal states.” The Clinton campaign is identifying occasional voters, mapping out if they live close enough to the county auditor’s office or a “satellite voting” location to cast their ballot in person — but before November 8th.

“Targeting different voters to make sure that we’re offering them the easiest way to go vote,” Mook says. Kaufmann says 2014 was a “transformational year” for the G-O-P, as the party stopped resisting and began an “early voting” push. We are doing everything we did then, then probably hundreds of thousands of dollars more,” Kaufmann says.

Early voting begins NEXT week in Iowa, on Thursday, September 29th.

(Radio Iowa)