Hillary Clinton received 51 percent support in the latest survey, unchanged from an October poll, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took 42 percent. | AP Photo Poll: Clinton maintains her lead in Iowa

Iowa Democrats still prefer Hillary Clinton, but Bernie Sanders gets higher marks on economic policy, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll of likely caucus participants out Wednesday.

Clinton received 51 percent support in the latest survey, unchanged from the October poll, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took 42 percent, a slight increase of 2 points, though well within the margin of error. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley earned just 4 percent, with 3 percent saying they are undecided with a little more than two months until the caucuses.


About 63 percent of likely caucus-goers said they have made up their mind about their candidate, while 36 percent said they have not. Among Clinton backers, the results are statistically the same. Among Sanders supporters, 64 percent have their minds set on the self-described democratic socialist candidate, while 34 percent indicated that they might change their minds.

Sanders earned a slightly higher net approval rating than Clinton, with 81 percent expressing a favorable view of him and just 7 percent having an unfavorable opinion. About 11 percent said they have not heard enough about him to decide. Clinton also earned 81 percent favorability, though the share of unfavorable opinion is at 15 percent. Just 2 percent said they have not heard enough about Clinton to decide.

On an issue-level basis, regardless of whom they said they were voting for, participants preferred Clinton in every category except for the economy, where Sanders led 47 percent to 42 percent. A strong plurality of 36 percent selected the economy as the most important issue out of a list including climate change (15 percent), foreign policy (12 percent) and health care (11 percent), among others.

In the days following the Paris terrorist attacks, just 5 percent ranked terrorism as the most important issue. About 80 percent of Iowa Democrats said they would accept taking Syrian refugees into the state, though Republican Gov. Terry Branstad has sought to block their resettlement. Nearly six in 10 — 58 percent — opposed sending ground troops to fight Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria, while just 33 percent supported it.

The poll was conducted Nov. 16-22, surveying 543 likely Iowa Democratic voters via landlines and cellphones. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.