Polls show top tier 2020 Democrats widening lead over rest of presidential field
WASHINGTON – Two polls released Tuesday, a week after the second Democratic primary debate, show the top presidential candidates appear to be widening their lead in the crowded 2020 field.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is leading the pack at 32%, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 21% and Sen. Bernie Sanders at 14%, according to a national Quinnipiac Poll published Tuesday.
Warren has made the largest jump up, with 6 percentage points from a July 29 poll ahead of the debate. Sanders also saw a bump of 3 percentage points. Biden slid down by 2 percentage points.
Biden is keeping his lead despite being attacked from all sides during the second night of the primary debate. A number of candidates took aim at the former vice president — from Sen. Cory Booker criticizing how Biden invoked former President Barack Obama to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Julián Castro calling out Biden's roll in the Obama Administration's immigration policies.
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Warren and Sanders shared the debate stage during the first night of the event and often times steered clear of criticizing each other's policies. The two candidates were also targeted by moderate Democratic candidates, such as former Rep. John Delaney and Rep. Tim Ryan, who both advocated for more moderate policies.
For debates scheduled for September and October, candidates will have to hit 2% in four qualifying polls and tally at least 130,000 individual donors, according to the DNC guidance.The Quinnipiac poll will go towards polling qualifications needed for September's debate.
No other candidates broke double digits. Fourteen candidates polled at less than 1%.
Sen. Kamala Harris, who made waves following the first primary debate in late June, has slipped by 5 percentage points to 7%. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is at 5%. Both Sen. Cory Booker and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke are at 2%.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Castro, the former Housing and Development Secretary, are all at 1%.
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Between Aug. 1 to 5, 807 Democrats and independent voters leaning Democrat were surveyed. There is a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
In a New Hampshire poll also published Tuesday, Biden, Sanders and Warren were again the only candidates to poll in the double digits.
Biden was at 21.4%, followed by Sanders at 16.8% and Warren at 13.6%, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
Harris was at 8%, followed by Buttigieg at 5.8% and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at 3.2%. The only candidates to break into at least 1% were Booker, Yang, Sen. Michael Bennet and former Rep. John Delaney.
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There were 500 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters surveyed between Aug. 1 to 4 using live telephone interviews. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The Suffolk poll does not count toward the qualification process for the primary debates to be held next month.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Polls: Biden, Warren, Sanders widening lead over presidential field
