Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) hold a substantial lead over their Democrat competitors for the 2020 presidential nomination, according to a poll released Monday.
According to an Emerson national poll released Monday, Sanders holds the lead with 29 percent of Democrat primary voters’ support, followed by Biden with 24 percent, and then by South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at nine percent.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) follow at eight percent, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at seven percent. The poll was conducted between April 11 and 14 of Democrat primary votesr with a margin of error of 5.2 percent.
While several polls have shown Sanders and Biden holding a strong lead, Buttigieg, who announced his candidacy for president on Sunday, has skyrocketed in the polls recently.
Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson Polling, said Monday, “while still early in the nominating process, it looks like Mayor Pete is the candidate capturing voters’ imagination; the numbers had him at zero percent in mid-February, 3 percent in March and now at 9 percent in April.”
“Biden has seen his support drop,” Kimball said. “In February, he led Sanders 27 percent to 17 percent, and in March the two were tied at 26 percent. Now, Sanders has a 5 point lead, 29 percent to 24 percent.”
Biden, who has yet to announce his candidacy for president, has held strong polling in the last few months. However, should Biden not run for president, then Sanders will pick up 31 percent support, and Buttigieg will get 17 percent of the Biden vote, followed by O’Rourke at 13 percent.
In a one-on-one matchup, Biden serves as the most competitive opponent against Trump, where Biden would gain 53 percent support to Trump’s 47 percent; however, this serves as a four-point drop compared to Emerson’s March poll, where Biden led Trump 55 to 45 percent.
Since the March poll, Biden has faced accusations of inappropriate touching from multiple women.
The April Emerson poll has shown a general tightening in the polls between Trump and potential 2020 Democrats.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has attacked Democrats for obstructing his America First agenda.
Trump tweeted Monday, “The Radical Left Democrats will never be satisfied with anything we give them. They will always Resist and Obstruct!”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.