The poll shows 88 percent surveyed see the former secretary of state positively, versus 8 percent who do not. | AP Photo Poll: Clinton opens up 41-point lead in Iowa

With Vice President Joe Biden officially out of the running and the Benghazi testimony behind her, Hillary Clinton has surged to a 41-point lead in the first caucus state of Iowa, according to results out Tuesday from the latest Monmouth University poll surveying likely Democratic caucus-goers.

Clinton earned the support of nearly two in three likely participants in next February's caucus, with 65 percent. Her next closest competitor, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, took 24 percent. In third place is former Gov. Martin O'Malley with 5 percent, and Harvard law professor Larry Lessig follows with 1 percent.


The RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls previously showed Clinton with a much more narrow lead over Sanders, with Biden in third place.

Among Sanders' supporters, a majority of 68 percent said they back Clinton as their second choice, compared with just 19 percent for O'Malley.

In terms of favorability numbers, 88 percent see the former secretary of state positively, versus 8 percent who do not. Meanwhile, 77 percent have a favorable view of Sanders, while 11 percent do not.

Approximately four in 10, or 40 percent, of those surveyed said that they are "completely decided" on their candidate, about double the share of Republicans who said the same in a Monmouth poll released Monday. Another 37 percent said they have a strong preference but are willing to think about other choices, 10 percent indicated a slight preference and 13 percent said they were undecided. Among the 31 percent of Democrats who said they have met a candidate campaigning in Iowa, 21 percent said they saw Clinton in person, while 16 percent said they saw Sanders.

Overall, 79 percent of Iowa Democrats said they thought their party is doing a good job representing their concerns, while just 12 percent said it was not. Those numbers stand in stark contrast with the GOP poll released Monday, which found that just 32 percent of Iowa Republicans approved of their national party's performance compared with 57 percent who did not.

The poll was conducted Oct. 22-25, surveying 400 likely Iowa Democratic caucus participants via landlines and cellphones with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Monmouth drew its sample from registered Democratic voters who participated in at least one of the last two state primary elections and are likely to attend the February caucus.