National Poll: Elizabeth Warren Surges, Kamala Harris Nosedives

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is closing the gap on Joe Biden (D), and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is continuing to experience a nosedive, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday.

The poll, taken September 1-3, 2019, among 1500 U.S. citizens (1069 registered voters), found Biden continuing to lead the crowded primary field with 26 percent support from Democrat primary voters. Warren, however, is closing the gap, coming just five points behind Biden with 21 percent support. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) – who has been battling Warren for second place – came in third with 14 percent support. While Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has been consistently coming in fourth place, Mayor Pete Buttigieg took that position with six percent support. Harris garnered just five percent support – a massive fall from the double-digit numbers she saw following the first Democrat debate.

Both Andrew Yang (D) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) saw three percent each, and the remaining candidates garnered two percent support or less. Twelve percent of Democrat primary voters said they were “not sure” who they would vote for if the election were held today. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent for registered voters and +/- 2.6 percent when adjusted for weighting.

Numbers slightly vary due to Political Polls pulling from the Economist/YouGov’s registered voter column– not the likely Democrat voter column, specifically:

2020 National Democratic Primary:
Biden 26%
Warren 22%
Sanders 14%
Buttigieg 5%
Harris 5%
Gabbard 3%
Yang 3%
de Blasio 2%
Bennet 1%
Booker 1%
Castro 1%
Delaney 1%
O'Rourke 1%
Ryan 1%
Williamson 1%@YouGovUS/@TheEconomist, RV, 9/1-3https://t.co/v9LQaQLg4i

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) September 4, 2019

Harris’s freefall worsened after Gabbard grilled her prosecutorial record during the second Democrat debate in Detroit. Harris dismissed her attacks at the time, suggesting that Gabbard was acting out of desperation due to her low poll numbers.

“This is going to sound immodest, but I’m obviously a top tier candidate, and so, I did expect that I would be on the stage and take hits tonight because there are a lot of people that are trying to make the stage for the next debate,” Harris told CNN following her second debate performance.

“Especially when people are at zero or one percent or whatever she might be at, and so, I did expect that I might take hits tonight,” she added– an apparent dig at Gabbard’s lackluster numbers:

Kamala Harris on Tulsi Gabbard’s comments regarding her record as a prosecutor: “I’m obviously a top tier candidate and so I did expect that I would be on the stage and take hits tonight. … I'm prepared to move on” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/kPNYfBs2rB

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 1, 2019

Harris will face off against the entire top tier– Biden, Warren, and Sanders– during the next presidential debate in Houston, Texas, September 12.