Supporters of Andrew Yang celebrated on social media after a 7NEWS/Emerson College Poll released Thursday showed the presidential hopeful jumping to fourth place in the Democrat field.
The poll, which surveyed 497 Democrat primary voters from January 21-23, 2020, showed former Vice President Joe Biden (D) leading the field with just three points over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 30 percent to 27 percent.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) fell to a distant third with 13 percent support, but all eyes are on fourth place, which went to Yang with eight percent support. He edged out Michael Bloomberg (D), who saw seven percent support, and Pete Buttigieg (D), who fell to sixth place with just six percent support.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) saw four percent support, and the remaining candidates saw one percent support or less. The margin of error is +/- 4.1 percent.
Yang supporters were quick to celebrate his rise in the poll, with #YangSurge trending on social media.
“You heard it, #YangGang ! Retweet with #YangSurge. Let’s do this for @AndrewYang!” Yang’s national campaign co-chair Evan Low proclaimed:
“Yang got 9% of the black vote (with 8% of the overall vote). This shows that the black community is listening, and liking what they’re hearing,” one user wrote. “As more of the black community starts hearing about him, they’ll realize that he’s their guy.”
“Just wait til Feb 3 and we see the #YangSurge in Iowa!” another wrote. “I feel it gang, it’s happening.”
“We’re beating the DNC at their own game,” another declared. “8% nationally in an A- ranked poll. The #YangSurge has begun.”
While Sanders continues to dominate in support among younger voters, Yang is treading on his demographic stronghold.
“If Bloomberg continues to gain support, it could come at Biden’s expense, which could create a pathway for Sanders to the nomination,” Emerson College Polling director Spencer Kimball stated.
“On the other hand, Yang is pulling votes away from Sanders with younger voters and this is a very interesting age dynamic,” Kimball added.
On Thursday, self-help guru and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson threw her weight behind Yang specifically for the Iowa caucuses.
“I’m lending my support to Andrew in Iowa, hopefully to help him get past the early primaries & remind us not to take ourselves too seriously,” Williamson wrote in an Instagram post. “We need that this year.”
Yang appears to be taking advantage of three of his competitors’ absences from Iowa due to the ongoing Senate impeachment trial, holding a host of events in the Hawkeye State:
Friday’s RealClearPolitics average showed Yang with 3.7 percent support in Iowa.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.