A new Democratic primary poll shows Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders leading former Vice President Joe Biden for the first time, following Biden’s poor showing in the Iowa caucus last week.
A new Quinnipiac poll released Sunday found Sanders gaining four points among Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters, and is now the candidate of choice for 25% of the party, compared to 21% in late January, 19% in mid-January, and 16% in mid-December.
Biden, who was the frontrunner in nationwide Democratic primary polling for much of the election season, now trails Sanders by eight points, 17% to 25%. That amounts to a nine-point decline for Biden’s support within the party, falling from 26% in late January, 25% in mid-January, and 30% in mid-December.
The Quinnipiac poll comes days after Biden made a disappointing fourth-place showing in last Tuesday’s Iowa caucus, and was released two days before this Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, with polls suggesting Biden is likely to fall even further and place fifth.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also lost ground in the new poll, falling from 15% in late January to 14%, her lowest level of support according to Quinnipiac. In mid-October, Warren was the candidate of choice of 30% of the party.
Warren, who briefly led the Democratic field, has now fallen to fourth place, trailing Sanders, Biden, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, a late entry into the Democratic race, surged to 15% in the new poll, up from 8% in late January and 6% in mid-January.
Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg also gained ground in the poll, following his performance in the Iowa caucuses. While Sanders led Buttigieg in votes cast, Buttigieg narrowly won more state electors.
Ten percent of Democrats now prefer Buttigieg as the party’s nominee, up from six percent in late January and eight percent in mid-January.
The other top Democratic candidates - Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, and Tom Steyer – all remain in the mid-to-low single digits.
The poll, which surveyed 1,519 registered voters, also found that the top six Democratic presidential contenders all lead President Trump in a general election matchup.
Bloomberg is the strongest candidate in a head-to-head matchup against Trump, the poll found, leading the president by nine points, 51% to 42%, slightly ahead of Sanders’ eight-point margin over Trump, 51% to 43%.
Joe Biden leads Trump by seven points, 50% to 43%, while Amy Klobuchar leads Trump 49% to 43%.
Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg each led Trump by four points in the poll, 48% to 44% for Warren, and 47% to 43% for Buttigieg.
Four of the top six Democratic candidates have net negative favorability ratings, with Warren having a negative eight-point rating of 39% to 47%; Biden a net negative rating of seven points with 43% giving him positive ratings to 50% who give him negative ratings; Bloomberg negative six points, 34% to 40%; Sanders 44% to 49%; Buttigieg 36% to 32%; and Amy Klobuchar, 32% to 22%.
Trump had the largest net negative favorability rating, however, with a negative 13-point rating of 42% positive to 55% negative.