A new poll suggests that the race for the White House could be narrowing. In the lead are former Vice President Joe Biden, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Though Biden has held on to the top spot since announcing his candidacy, Sanders and Warren appear to slightly outperform him in the newest data.
The Monmouth University Poll, which was taken from August 16 to 20, 2019, has both Sanders and Warren with 20 percent and Biden with 19 percent in the category of presidential nomination preference among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters. When considering previous polling data, the June survey shows an increase in support for the Senators and a decline for the former VP.
“The main takeaway from this poll is that the Democratic race has become volatile,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute noted. “Liberal voters are starting to cast about for a candidate they can identify with. Moderate voters, who have been paying less attention, seem to be expressing doubts about Biden. But they are swinging more toward one of the left-leaning contenders with high name recognition rather than toward a lesser-known candidate who might be more in line with them politically,”
Murray also added that the shift represents increased attention to the Democratic nomination contest. Warren has benefited from this by seeing an increase in her favorability rating which now stands at 65 percent, while Biden has seen a decrease, going from 74 percent, to now 66 percent. Sanders has stayed relatively stable.
The top Democratic candidates will face off next month on the debate stage in Houston. So far, only ten hopefuls have qualified to participate.