Biden, Sanders lead field in Iowa poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lead the field of potential Democratic candidates for the 2020 presidential election, according to a poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers released Saturday.

Biden was the first choice of 32 percent of respondents, and Sanders, who finished second in the Democratic primary in 2016, followed with 19 percent.

“This is obviously a warm welcome to some people who are really familiar to caucusgoers in the state,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., the firm that conducted the poll. “But there’s also some welcoming of newcomers who are only now starting to come to the state and get to know the people who could shape their future.”

{mosads}Despite the top two candidates being veteran politicians, 36 percent of respondents said that a political “newcomer” is best suited to defeat President Trump, according to the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll.

Outgoing Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who was favored by 11 percent of respondents, may fill that desire. O’Rourke was propelled into the presidential discussion after a close Senate race loss to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

He has met with a number of prominent Democrats in recent weeks, including former President Obama and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was the only other candidate to receive more than 5 percent of support, with 8 percent.

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), all of whom have visited Iowa, were the first choices for 5, 4, and 3 percent of those polled, respectively. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also polled at 3 percent.

Biden and Sanders also had the highest name recognition among those included in the survey, with only 4 percent of respondents having no opinion them. 

Warren had the next highest share of people with a position on her with 84 percent, followed by Bloomberg at 71, O’Rourke at 64, Booker at 61 and Harris at 59 percent.

So far, none of the candidates have announced a campaign.

The poll asked likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa, the first state to hold caucuses, which candidate they would prefer out of a list of 20. The poll surveyed 455 people between Dec. 10-13, with a margin of error of 4.6 points.

The results of the Iowa poll lines up with a national survey on potential Democratic nominees from Friday that had Biden, with 30 percent, Sanders, with 14 percent, and O’Rourke, with 9 percent, as the three front-runners.