President Trump is gaining support from independent voters and holding an edge with the demographic over potential Democrat challengers Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), IBD-TIPP’s October poll shows.
The IBD/TIPP Poll – taken September 26 to October 3 among 900 adults (including a “subset” of 341 Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents) – showed the president edging out Warren in support from independent voters in a hypothetical general election matchup. While the poll shows Warren narrowly leading Trump overall – 48 percent to 46 percent – Trump leads Warren among independent voters by six percentage points, 49 percent to 43 percent.
Similarly, Trump leads Sanders among independent voters by four points, 48 percent to 44 percent. A head-to-head matchup shows Sanders surpassing Trump by three points overall – 49 percent to 46 percent.
Biden performs the best against Trump in a general election matchup – 51 percent to 44 percent – the survey found. However, his lead narrowed by five points from September’s poll, when he led Trump 54 percent to 42 percent.
In September, Biden saw an overwhelming amount of support from independent voters, 55 percent to Trump’s 37 percent. October’s results, however, signal a dramatic shift, with Biden narrowly leading Trump among independent voters, 46 percent to 45 percent. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3.3 percent.
The survey also examined the Democrat primary field, which currently shows Warren leading the pack with one point over Biden, 27 percent to 26 percent. Sanders fell to a distant third with just ten percent support, followed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) with seven percent support.
The poll also showed another significant drop for Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who tied with Andrew Yang (D) for fifth place with just three percent support: