Harris gains on Biden in latest polls
Ex-veep, Sanders see drop in support
Joe Biden’s sizable lead in the polls among Democratic presidential hopefuls is eroding in the wake of a lackluster debate performance in which he was hammered on race by Kamala Harris — while she’s cemented her status as a top-tier candidate as a result.
Several polls after last week’s Democratic debates show the former vice president, once the indisputable front-runner, sliding to just a few points above a surging Harris.
Biden had been polling largely in the 30% range in national surveys — with a significant margin above U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who were jockeying for second place. Harris, a California senator, was mainly in the single digits.
A CNN poll released Monday showed Biden with 22% support among Democratic or Democratic-leaning independent voters. Harris had rocketed into second place with 17%, while Warren garnered 15% and Sanders fell from second place to 14%.
Biden hit “his lowest numBend, ber yet” in a Quinnipiac University national poll released Tuesday, the pollsters said. He ended up “virtually tied” with Harris — with 22% support to her 20% — while Warren got 14%, Sanders got 13% and South Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg got 4%. By contrast, a June 11 Quinnipiac poll had Biden at 30% support, Sanders at 19%, Warren at 15%, Buttigieg at 8% and Harris at 7%.
An Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday had Biden at 21%, Warren at 18%, Harris at 13% and Sanders at 10%.
But not every poll has showed Biden’s support crumbling. An ABC/Washington Post poll — conducted with different methodology, asking potential voters for their preferred candidate without presenting a list of names — had Biden with 30% support, Sanders with 19%, Harris with 13% and Warren with 12%.
“There is no question that Harris has risen, that’s pretty much indisputable at the national poll level,” said pollster David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
Biden’s trajectory is more “subjective,” depending on the poll, Paleologos said, citing this week’s Suffolk University/USA Today poll of likely Iowa Democratic voters, which Biden topped with 24% and Harris finished second with 16%.
Sanders’ fall from the No. 2 slot in several surveys may be more significant than Biden’s slide.
“Right now, his immediate problem is to get himself back into that top tier where he’s one of the top three,” Paleologos said. “The alignment of those national polls and our Iowa poll with Sanders dropping is potentially a telltale sign.”