Democrat Hillary Clinton further cemented her front-runner status in the key early-caucus state of Iowa on Wednesday when a new Quinnipiac University poll showed that the former secretary of state holds an 11-percentage point lead over her closest challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The survey suggests that 51 percent of likely caucus participants of their party would back Clinton in the electoral event slated for early next year, while Sanders commands the support of 42 percent of Democrats in the Hawkeye State, Politico reported.

The third candidate still pursuing the party's 2016 White House nomination, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, meanwhile, earned just 4 percent, slightly more than the 3 percent in the "undecided" category, the Northern Virginia-based publication pointed out.

Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, noted in a statement that Clinton should receive credit for the consistency she has shown in various Hawkeye State surveys.

"Sometimes running in place is a good thing," Brown said. "In this case that is what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been doing, and she'll take the status quo. She remains ahead by about 10 points over her only real challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders. She hasn't stretched her lead, but it hasn't shrunk either."

But the New York Times cautioned that despite Clinton's lead among Democrats, most of her party's supporters in Iowa actually believe that it is Sanders who could better handle the nation's economy, which happens to be voters' primary issue of concern.

Those surveyed also said that the feel Sanders shared their values and cares about people like them, though they prefer Clinton  on overall leadership, confronting terrorism and foreign policy, the newspaper enumerated.

"It's not that Iowa Democrats are in love with Secretary Clinton right now," Brown explained, according to CNN.

"They even think Sanders would be better handling the economy, generally the hallmark of the candidate who wins the Democratic nomination," Brown added. "But despite all the things about Clinton that gives Democrats pause, there is one thing that unites them: She looks like a winner in November."