by Mary Margaret Olohan
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren took a slight numerical lead over former Vice President Joe Biden among Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, a national poll shows.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found 27% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents would vote for Warren, while 25% said they would vote for Biden. Her lead comes within the survey’s margin of error, the surveyors noted.
“After trailing Biden by double digits since March in the race for the Democratic nomination, Warren catches Biden,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy. “We now have a race with two candidates at the top of the field, and they’re leaving the rest of the pack behind.”
This marks the first time a candidate has passed front-runner Biden in Quinnipiac’s poll since it began in March.
“Dig a little deeper, and the reasons behind Warren’s rise become more clear. She generates a lot of excitement as a potential nominee,” Malloy added. “On top of that, half of Democrats want a presidential candidate that supports big changes — even if it means things are harder along the way.”
August poll numbers for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and California Sen. Kamala Harris remained relatively the same, the September poll numbers show. Sanders follows Warren and Biden with 16% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independents’ votes, followed by Buttigieg who holds 7% of voters. Harris has 3% of Democratic votes, according to the national poll.
President Donald Trump retains 80% of Republican votes. Of these votes, 67% said they would be very satisfied with Trump running in 2020, while 17% said they would be somewhat satisfied.
Quinnipiac University conducted the poll from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23 and surveyed 1,337 self-identified registered voters. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
