Sanders leads in New Hampshire, in 3-way tie for first in Iowa: poll

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) leads the Democratic presidential primary field in New Hampshire, while the race has become a three-way tie between Sanders and two of his top-tier opponents in Iowa, according to a new poll. 

Sanders has support of 27 percent of primary voters in New Hampshire, a state he carried in his 2016 presidential bid, according to a CBS poll released Sunday. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden closely trails Sanders by 2 points, at 25 percent, which is within the poll’s 5.3 percentage point margin of error, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is a more distant third, at 18 percent, with South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg in fourth at 13 percent, based on the poll. 

Warren saw a stark 13-point decrease in support in New Hampshire since November, when she was leading the field in the Granite State with 31 percent support compared to Biden’s 22 percent and Sanders’s 20 percent. 

In Iowa, Sanders, Biden and Buttigieg each received 23 percent support, with Warren getting 16 percent in the most recent poll. 

Warren’s support dipped 2 points from a November poll while Sanders and Biden each increased support by 1 point and Buttigieg by 2 points to maintain their top spots in the first voting state ahead of next month’s caucus. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has seen a surge in support after a strong performance in last month’s debate, is in fifth place in both New Hampshire and Iowa at 7 percent. 

The poll was conducted by YouGov between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2. The poll surveyed 2,000 registered voters in Iowa including 953 self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in Iowa; it surveyed 1,100 registered voters in New Hampshire, including 510 self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. The margin of error is 3.8 percentage points in Iowa and 5.3 percentage points in New Hampshire.