Poll: Biden holds 7-point lead over Sanders as Warren drops to third

Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 7-point lead over the rest of the 2020 Democratic primary field as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) dropped to third in a new Emerson College poll released Wednesday.

Biden gets the support of 32 percent of Democratic primary voters, trailed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 25 percent and Warren with 12 percent. No other candidate breaks double digits.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang round out the top five with 8 percent and 6 percent support, respectively.

The poll marks a boost for Biden, who advanced 5 points from the same poll in November, while Sanders lost 2 points and Warren fell 8 points.

The Emerson College survey marks a sliding trend in the polls for Warren after a summer surge as a slew of her primary competitors hammer her over her policies, including how she would pay for her “Medicare for All” plan.

Sanders solidifies his support in the poll among voters under 50, winning 36 percent support from the group, while Biden and Warren get 22 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Biden continues to dominate with voters over 50, leading the rest of the field among the demographic with 45 percent, trailed by Warren with 14 percent.

“Warren appears to be losing to Sanders with younger voters, and losing to Biden with older voters, making it difficult for her to secure a base. With less than 50 days until the Iowa caucus, this strategy of waiting for Sanders or Biden to fall is looking shaky,” said Emerson Polling Director Spencer Kimball. 

The poll also shows Sanders with a 9-point lead over Biden among Hispanic voters, while the former vice president still holds a commanding 33-point lead among African American voters. Buttigieg continues to poll low among voters of color, fueling speculation as to how far his campaign can go after the first two nominating contests in heavily white Iowa and New Hampshire. 

“The fact that Pete Buttigieg garners absolutely no support among African-American and Hispanic voters is a major problem for his campaign as he will struggle to compete in the early states beyond Iowa and New Hampshire unless that changes,” said Emerson College research assistant Brendan Kane. 

The Emerson College poll surveyed 525 Democratic primary voters from Dec. 15 to 17 and has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.