In Quinnipiac poll, Warren tops Biden by 7 points
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has vaulted to a 7-point lead over former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary race, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University released Thursday.
When asked whom they would vote for if the primary election were today, 28% of Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democrat named the senator from Massachusetts, compared with 21% who selected Biden. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was third at 15%, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg finished fourth at 10%.
It was the fourth consecutive Quinnipiac poll in which Warren came out ahead of Biden. Before September, Biden consistently led Warren in Quinnipiac’s surveys, usually by more than 10 percentage points. But the poll appears to be an outlier compared with other recent surveys on the race.
Warren surged in late September and early October to drop Biden from the lead in the RealClearPolitics polling average for the first time since the race began. Since then, however, Biden has roared back, coming out ahead in every major national poll released after Oct. 15 except for Thursday’s from Quinnipiac. One poll from CNN on Wednesday had the former vice president leading Warren by 15 percentage points.
When asked who had the best policy ideas, Warren was the pick of 30% of likely Democratic voters, compared with Sanders at 20% and Biden at 15%, according to the Quinnipiac poll. But Biden continued to lead in the all-important question of who is most likely to beat President Donald Trump.