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Close races in Iowa as first-in-the-nation caucus approaches

The first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucus is just four days away, and both the GOP and Democratic races have no clear frontrunner.Caucus-goers will gather Monday night throughout Iowa to choose a presidential candidate for nomination. Recent polls done by Quinnipiac University show Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz in a dead heat in the GOP race. On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders has a four-point lead over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Brad Best, professor of political science at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, expects the GOP presidential field to become much smaller after Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Names like John Kasich, perhaps Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Ben Carson, are going to fade further and further in to the past, they’re going to be pushed further and further in to the periphery after Iowa. My guess is that there are at most three and maybe only two tickets out of Iowa, and certainly only two out of New Hampshire."

New Hampshire holds its first-in-the-nation primary on February 9. Best says the Democratic race in Iowa will come down to which campaign was the most organized.

KIOS will bring you NPR’s special coverage of the Iowa Caucus Monday night.