Elizabeth Warren edged ahead of Joe Biden, according to a new Quinnipiac University national poll, the latest sign the Massachusetts senator has emerged as the former vice president’s chief rival for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
The survey, released Wednesday, finds Warren winning 27% of Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democratic, while Biden garnered 25%.
Although the difference between Warren and Biden is within the margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points, it is the first time that any candidate other than Biden has had the numerical lead in the primary since Quinnipiac started polling the race in March.
In the Sept. 19-23 poll, of 1,337 self-identified registered voters, Warren and Biden are followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 16%; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 7%; and Kamala Harris received 3%, the California senator’s lowest number yet.
Rival candidates in the more than 15-person field didn’t climb above 2%.
Biden appears to be criticizing Warren more on the campaign trail recently, questioning her policies including her healthcare plan, saying that her “Medicare for All” proposal “is going to raise people’s taxes.”
In August, the Quinnipiac national poll had Biden receiving 32%, Warren picking up 19%, Sanders at 15%, Harris at 7%, and Buttigieg garnering 5%.
And in a new California poll, she leads her nearest competitor, Sanders, by 8 points and Biden by 11 points.
Warren’s support has surged over the last couple of months as Biden, the longtime front-runner, has been dodging and weaving around political arrows from his opponents questioning his record and if he is truly as electable as he claims.
