Elizabeth Warren leads in new Iowa poll, with Joe Biden second
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Senator Elizabeth Warren's campaign stops have become bona fide events, with 20,000 people attending a speech in Manhattan last Monday and 2,000 turning out in Iowa City last Thursday.
PHOTO: AP
DES MOINES, IOWA (NYTIMES) - Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is the new Iowa polling leader, narrowly in first place ahead of former vice-president Joe Biden, according to a new poll of the state from The Des Moines Register and CNN.
The poll showed that Ms Warren was the first choice for 22 per cent of would-be Democratic caucus-goers, a significant increase from the 15 per cent support she held in June, when The Register last polled the state.
Mr Biden dropped from a first-place in June showing of 24 per cent to 20 per cent. The result left the two in a statistical tie, well ahead of the rest of the pack.
The poll is the latest evidence of Ms Warren's political rise in the 2020 race. Her campaign stops have become bona fide events, with 20,000 people attending a speech in Manhattan last Monday and 2,000 turning out in Iowa City last Thursday.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont placed third with 11 per cent, the second consecutive poll from The Register in which his campaign has seen precipitous decreases in support. Mr Sanders, who placed in a statistical tie with Ms Hillary Clinton in the state's 2016 contest, had 25 per cent support in the paper's March poll and 16 per cent support in June.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, placed fourth in the Register's poll, with 9 per cent. He had 14 per cent in the Register's June poll and has fallen in other surveys of the state since then before launching a television advertising campaign here after Labor Day.
The gains by Ms Warren come largely at the expense of Mr Sanders. His polling drop-off comes as his campaign has reordered staff in an effort to reboot his campaign.
Senator Kamala Harris of California was fifth overall with 6 per cent support. Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota each had 3 per cent support. Four candidates were the first choice of 2 per cent of likely Iowa caucus-goers.
The dynamics are far from set: Just one in five likely Democratic caucus-goers said their minds were made up, and 63 per cent said they could still be persuaded to support a different candidate.
The poll surveyed 602 likely Democratic caucus-goers by telephone from Sept 14-18 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 points.
