Joe Biden leads Democratic 2020 race, flurry of polls show

Flurry of new polls shows Biden continues to lead in Democratic race

Aug. 28, 2019 2:27 PM PT

A flurry of new Democratic primary polls have been released in the last several days, giving a clearer picture of the 2020 presidential race nationwide.

Joe Biden continues to lead the pack, although not by an overwhelming margin. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are next behind the former vice president, with similar levels of support.

California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg form a third tier in the single digits.

Warren’s steady rise since April makes her the only candidate whose support has consistently grown. Harris, Buttigieg and a few other candidates have had brief spikes in support, but haven’t sustained it.

New Democratic primary polls released in the last several days offer a clearer picture of the race nationwide. Joe Biden continues to lead, though not overwhelmingly. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are next, with very similar levels of support.

A few other candidates, including former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing Secretary Julián Castro have registered between 1% and 3% in several polls, but most in the large Democratic field of hopefuls have negligible support.

One poll earlier this week, from Monmouth University, drew considerable attention because it showed a sharp drop in Biden’s support from a CNN poll earlier in the month.

Poll	Joe Biden	Bernie Sanders	Elizabeth Warren	Pete Buttigieg	Kamala Harris
PollCNN	Joe Biden1st	Bernie Sanders2nd	Elizabeth Warren3rd	Pete Buttigieg4th	Kamala Harris4th
PollMonmouth University	Joe Biden2nd	Bernie Sanders1st	Elizabeth Warren1st	Pete Buttigieg5th	Kamala Harris4th
PollQuinnipiac University	Joe Biden1st	Bernie Sanders3rd	Elizabeth Warren2nd	Pete Buttigieg5th	Kamala Harris4th
PollUSA Today/Suffolk University	Joe Biden1st	Bernie Sanders3rd	Elizabeth Warren2nd	Pete Buttigieg4th	Kamala Harris4th

The Monmouth poll’s director, Patrick Murray, issued a statement Wednesday saying that the evidence from other polls made clear that his survey was “an outlier” — a result that is “a product of the uncertainty that is inherent in the polling process.”

Note: The CNN poll surveyed 1,001 respondents between Aug. 15 and 18. The Monmouth University poll surveyed 298 registered voters between Aug. 16 and 20 who identify as or lean toward the Democratic Party. The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 1,422 self-identified registered voters nationwide between Aug. 21 and 26. The Suffolk University poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters nationwide between Aug. 20 and 25.

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David Lauter

David Lauter writes the Saturday Los Angeles Times Politics newsletter from Washington, D.C. He began writing news in Washington in 1981 and has covered Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and six U.S. presidential campaigns. He served as Washington bureau chief from 2011-20. Lauter lived in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2011, where he was The Times’ deputy Foreign editor, deputy Metro editor and then assistant managing editor responsible for California coverage.