Support for Biden rises 7 points nationally after South Carolina win

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continues to lead the Democratic field nationally but former Vice President Joe Biden has seen his support increase 7 points since his resounding victory Saturday in the South Carolina primary, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

Sanders received 29 percent support to Biden’s 26 percent, according to the national poll, followed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg with 17 percent and Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 11 percent (D-Mass.).

In a similar poll taken before the South Carolina primary Sanders received 32 percent support while Biden had 19 percent.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), both of whom have since withdrawn from the race, rounded out the field in the most recent poll, with 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

After leading with black voters in earlier polling, Sanders is now tied with Biden at 31 percent. Biden also saw his support among Hispanic voters increase 9 points to 21 percent, although Sanders still has a commanding lead with the demographic, which will play a major role in Super Tuesday contests in Texas and California.

In the average of polling from the 14 Super Tuesday states, Sanders leads by a wider margin, with 33 percent to 24 percent, although Biden has gained 7 points there as well. Bloomberg, who entered no early primary contests and will formally compete for the first time on Tuesday, is down 4 points in the average to 16 percent.

The poll of 2,656 likely Democratic primary caucus voters was conducted between Feb. 23-27 and March 1 and has a 2-point margin of error.