There’s been little change in the Democratic outlook for 2020, according to a new Monmouth University Poll.
The poll asked registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents about their party’s nomination process.
Among the 23 potential contenders, former Vice President Joe Biden has the most support (28 percent of Democratic voters/same from 29 percent in January), followed by Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders (25 percent/up from 16 percent in January).
Other candidate support remains largely unchanged from January’s poll, including California Sen. Kamala Harris (10 percent), Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (8 percent), former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke (6 percent), New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (5 percent) and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (3 percent). The remaining 15 names all received less than 1 percent of support – with former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (2 percent) announcing he would not run after the poll was conducted.
Sanders, who has made some gains, still holds only about half the voters (46 percent) who supported him in 2016 and 14 percent of those who were with Hillary Clinton in the last nomination contest. The remainder of his past supports are divided among Biden (15 percent), Harris (8 percent), Warren (6 percent), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (4 percent), Klobuchar (3 percent), Booker (3 percent) and the rest of the candidates.
The poll said if Biden pulled out of the race, about a quarter of his support would go to Sanders, with Harris after him. When recalculating current support using the second choice of Biden voters, it provided Sanders a total of 32 percent, Harris 15 percent, Warren 10 percent, O’Rourke 7 percent, Booker 6 percent and Klobuchar 4 percent.
“Without Biden in the race, Sanders could replicate the level of national support he had in 2016. But it’s not clear how much more he can build on that with so many fresh faces in the field,” Murray said.
In terms of voter opinion, little has changed toward the candidates who were included in both the January and March polls.
Biden and Sanders continue to be the best known, with a favorability of 76 percent and 70 percent, respectively. Biden’s favorability has declined slightly from his 80 percent earlier this year and Sanders has held steady from a previous 68 percent.
Harris’s favorability rating has improved from 46 percent to 53 percent, while Warren’s has declined from 57 percent to 49 percent. O’Rourke has also seen a slip, from 41 percent to 38 percent. Booker’s rating has remained stable, from 44 percent to 43 percent. Klobuchar has also remained steady, from 15 percent to 14 percent.
