Biden +7 Over Bernie In New National Monmouth Poll

Insider New Jersey reports:

In a field of 24 announced and potential contenders, Joe Biden currently has the support of 27% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, which is similar to his 28% support in March and 29% in January, according to this morning’s Monmouth University Poll. Support for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is currently at 20%, which is down slightly from 25% in March, but still higher than his 16% support in January.

“If Biden does enter the race this week, he starts off with a fairly stable amount of good will from Democrats. We might even expect to see a small bump after his announcement, but the bigger question will be what happens when those voters start taking a closer look at him on the campaign trail. It’s a long way to Iowa and a lot can happen,” said Murray.

South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg currently has 8% support. He registered less than 1% in prior Monmouth polls. California Sen. Kamala Harris has 8% support, off just slightly from 10% in March and 11% in January. Rounding out the field of top contenders are Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 6% (from 8% in both March and January) and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke at 4% (6% in March and 7% in January).

The rest of the field came in at under 2%. As I noted here recently, these very early polls can be maddening, but they often serve to cull out the weaker candidates long before the first primary. Multiple prominent Republicans dropped out in 2015, including Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, and Scott Walker.