National Poll Shows Sanders Regaining Second Place, Electability on the Rise

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) regained his previously held second place position, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday, amplifying the ongoing battle between the Vermont senator and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who remain neck and neck.

Economist/YouGov surveyed 1,500 U.S. citizens (1,111 of whom are registered voters) August 17–20 and asked Democrat primary voters, “If the Democratic presidential primary or caucus in your state were held today, who would you vote for?”

Of the Democrat primary voters surveyed, 22 percent chose Joe Biden (D), with Sanders falling just three points behind with 19 percent support. Warren fell to third place with 17 percent support, a significant contrast from last week’s poll, which showed the Massachusetts senator in a statistical tie for first place with Biden:

National Democratic Primary:

Biden 21 (-1 in a week)
Warren 20 (+4)
Sanders 16 (+3)
Harris 8 (-)
O'Rourke 5 (+3)
Buttigieg 5 (-3)
Booker 2 (+1)
Gabbard 2 (-1)
Bennet 1
Castro 1
Gillibrand 1
Klobuchar 1
Steyer 1
Williamson 1
Yang 1@TheEconomist /@YouGov https://t.co/WbnJkHHkG7

— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) August 14, 2019

This week’s poll showed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) in fourth place with eight percent support, followed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and Beto O’Rourke (D) with seven percent and three percent, respectively. The remaining candidates garnered two percent support or less. Twelve percent of voters said they are “not sure” who they will vote for. The poll’s margin of error is+/- 2.6 percent when adjusted for weighting and +/- 3 percent for registered voters.

More good news comes for Sanders in terms of the perception of his electability. While most Democrats – 65 percent – view Biden as the most electable candidate, Sanders saw a bump from last week’s poll, jumping from 52 percent to 59 percent. Warren maintained her status, with 57 percent of respondents saying she could “probably beat” President Trump.

This poll echoes the Morning Consult poll released Monday, showing Sanders in second place with 20 percent support.

As Breitbart News reported:

A Morning Consult poll – stemming from interviews with 17,115 Democrat-leaning registered voters August 12–18 – shows Sanders reclaiming his previously held second place position with 20 percent support. While he is still 11 points behind Biden, who has 31 percent support, the Vermont senator is still five points ahead of his closest challenger Warren, who garnered 15 percent support.

The survey affirms the storyline of Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-CA) freefall from the first tier, garnering nine percent support. She is followed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) who has five percent support, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Beto O’Rourke (D), and Andrew Yang (D), who all received three percent support. The remaining candidates garnered one percent support or less. The margin of error is +/- one percent.

The current Real Clear Politics average shows Biden in first place with 28.8 percent support, followed by Sanders in second place with 16 percent support, and Warren in third with 15.4 percent support.