Bernie Sanders Leads Joe Biden By 5% Among 2020 Democrats Running For President In New Poll

A new Emerson poll shows Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) leads all 2020 Democratic presidential candidates with 29 percent support, while former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg are second and third, respectively.

Sanders had been trailing Biden for several weeks in many polls, but the latest survey shows Biden now holds 24 percent support, while 37-year-old Buttigieg has 9 percent backing. Biden has not yet formally announced his 2020 presidential run against President Donald Trump. 

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) are tied for fourth place, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) comes in fifth with 7 percent.

Buttigieg, an openly gay war veteran, has gained increasing popularity in recent weeks and officially launched his 2020 bid on Sunday. He has garnered significant attention partly due to his intellectual nature and impressive record as South Bend’s mayor — a position he has held since 2012 — despite his young age.

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“While still early in the nominating process, it looks like Mayor Pete is the candidate capturing voters’ imagination,” Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson Polling, said in a statement Monday. “The numbers had him at 0% in mid-February, 3% in March and now at 9% in April.”

Buttigieg has raised $7 million in the first quarter of 2019 since launching a presidential exploratory committee in early January.

Sanders continues to lead all 2020 Democratic presidential candidates in fundraising, with $18.2 million in contributions, all from small-name donors and none from corporations or political action committees (PACs).

Biden’s drop in popularity could likely be due to the fact that several women have come forward to say they felt uncomfortable with the former vice president’s touchy behavior over the years. Biden apologized in a video he shared on Twitter earlier this month, although many people appear to not have yet completely forgiven him.

Biden’s record as a Senator, including his role in the case surrounding Anita Hill‘s 1991 congressional testimony, could also potentially hurt his chances of becoming the 2020 Democratic nominee.

The new Emerson poll, conducted between April 11–14, surveyed 356 registered voters around the country and holds a margin of error of 5.2 percentage points.