Two new Iowa polls say Clinton has small lead over Sanders

Two new polls say that Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders in Iowa, but by small margins.

A new poll from Monmouth University in New Jersey said Clinton is leading by five points, 47 percent to 42 percent. Meanwhile, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll said Clinton leads by three points, 48 percent to 45 percent.

Most polls recently have shown a tight race between the former secretary of state and the U.S. senator from Vermont. A third contestant, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, is a distant third. The Monmouth poll, which was conducted Jan. 23-28, gave him 6 percent. Another 6 percent were uncommitted.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The new surveys come just a few days before the Feb. 1 caucuses.

The Monmouth poll says that Clinton's five-point lead is down from a 22-point lead she had in the university's previous poll in the state, in December.

But the NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll said her three-point edge is unchanged from a survey it did earlier this month. The Journal/NBC News poll was done Jan. 24-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

The Journal/NBC News poll gave O'Malley 3 percent and had 4 percent undecided.

Both polls said Clinton is leading with women, those who are older than 45 years old (50 in the Monmouth poll) and those who are regular Democratic voters. Sanders has the edge with younger voters, men and those who would be first-time participants.