A Loras College Poll of likely voters conducted last week found Republican Joni Ernst leading Democrat Bruce Braley in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race by nearly six percentage points. A Rasmussen Report poll conducted over that same two-day period found the race a dead heat, with Ernst just one point ahead. Both polls had a margin of error of four percent. Political science professor Christopher Budzisz is the director of the Loras College Poll.

Of the likely voters surveyed, just over eight percent had never heard of Ernst, who is running in her first statewide race after one race for a state senate seat. But Budzisz says 13-and-a-half percent of those surveyed had never heard of Braley, a four-term congressman from Waterloo.

The poll also found Republican Governor Terry Branstad holding a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Jack Hatch. In both races, about 10 percent of likely voters survey in the Loras College Poll were undecided, which Budzisz says is a “relatively small number.”

Democrats argue the Rasmussen poll contacts too many Republican voters, skewing the results. The firm also uses automated calls, requiring respondents to hit buttons on their phones. The Loras Poll is conducted by live operators.