Ahead of her formal campaign kick-off in Iowa today, a Des Moines Register poll shows Michele Bachmann essentially tied for the lead in the state with race front-runner Mitt Romney.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, clocked in at 23 percent in the new poll, released over the weekend. Bachmann, at 22 percent, is statistically tied with him. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is at just 6 percent.

Most national polls show Romney with a large lead in the race, but Iowa, with its first-in-the-nation caucuses scheduled for next February, is an especially important state for candidates to show they're competitive. Many have campaigned heavily in state, including Pawlenty and, soon, Bachmann, who is announcing her presidential run in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa this morning.

The Des Moines Register poll is noted for its accuracy, but the paper even acknowledges that it’s still quite early to be handicapping the race based off of poll numbers. In a May 2007 poll ahead of the 2008 presidential race, Romney led Republican contenders with 30 percent; eventual caucus winner Mike Huckabee received a paltry 4 percent.

Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.