Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) has taken the lead in New Hampshire in what is playing out to be a tight primary race in the Granite State, a WBUR poll shows.
The poll, conducted by MassINC Polling Group from December 3-8, 2019, among 442 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters, showed Buttigieg narrowly topping the field with 18 percent support. Joe Biden (D), who has appeared to experience a bump in early primary states in recent days, came in right behind with 17 percent support. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) came in third and fourth place with 15 percent and 12 percent support, respectively. No other candidate made it into the double digits.
According to the poll, Buttigieg performs well across all age groups in New Hampshire, and “his rise to the top of the field in the Granite State has come as support for Warren appears to have slipped,” as WBUR reports.
Both Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Andrew Yang (D) saw five percent support, followed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tom Steyer (D), both of whom garnered three percent support. Michael Bloomberg, who is focusing on a Super Tuesday strategy rather than the first early primary and caucus states, garnered two percent support.
The remaining candidates saw one percent support or less. The margin of error is +/- 4.7 percent, which speaks to the reality of the tight race among the field’s top contenders.
“What’s remarkable about this is how close it remains,” MassINC Polling Group President Steve Koczela said.
“We’ve got three candidates, all within three points of each other — and Elizabeth Warren not that far behind, right there in that top tier. Basically, [this is] a race that could go in any direction,” Koczela added.
Sanders maintains the edge in New Hampshire’s current RealClearPolitics average, with 19 percent support. Buttigieg, Biden, and Warren follow with 17.7 percent, 14.3 percent, and 13.3 percent, respectively.