Elizabeth Warren surpassed Joe Biden for the first time in a Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll released Saturday, earning 22% support among likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers to Biden’s 20%.
Often called the “gold standard” of Iowa polling, the poll found Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in third place with 11% support. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg had 9% support in the poll, while California Sen. Kamala Harris came in fifth place with 6%. Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey each had 3%.
The poll counts toward qualification for the October Democratic presidential debate, which requires 2% support in at least three Democratic National Committee-approved polls and 130,000 individual donors. Eleven candidates have qualified for that debate so far.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has surpassed the donor mark, received 2% support in Saturday’s Iowa poll, placing her at three qualifying polls and one more needed to make the October debate.
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer, and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang also received 2% support in the poll. Eight other candidates polled at 1% or less.
While the poll finds that Warren is the most popular candidate in Iowa today, there could still be hope for some of the lower-polling hopefuls to break into the top tier in the 135 days before the Iowa caucuses as just one-in-five respondents said they had already made up their minds.
“The data in this poll seem to suggest the field is narrowing, but my sense is there’s still opportunity aplenty,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., the company that conducted the poll. “The leaders aren’t all that strong. The universe is not locked in.”
The poll surveyed 602 likely Democratic caucusgoers from Sept. 14 to 18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.
