Polls bring good news to Bernie Sanders in 2 key states

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Sen. Bernie Sanders appears to have gained momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Two polls released over the weekend in those states found the Vermont lawmaker taking the clear No. 1 spot in the still-crowded field of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination. A third poll found Sanders neck and neck with former Vice President Joe Biden in Iowa.

In Iowa, a New York Times-Siena College poll published Saturday pegged Sanders’s support at 25 percent, leading former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (18 percent), Biden (17 percent) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (15 percent). Sanders’s support in the survey was 6 points higher than in October, when the Times-Siena poll was last taken.

But both Biden and Buttigieg performed much better in a CBS News poll of Iowa released Sunday. That survey found Sanders leading Biden 26 percent to 25 percent, with Buttigieg shortly behind at 22 percent.

In New Hampshire, a CNN-University of New Hampshire survey published Sunday similarly found Sanders at 25 percent, with Buttigieg, Biden and Warren again contending for second place. That represents a 4-point gain for Sanders since the pollster last surveyed the state.

Sen. Bernie Sanders in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Sen. Bernie Sanders in Ames, Iowa. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The good news for Sanders comes at an opportune time, as Iowa caucus-goers cast their votes in just over a week on Feb. 3. New Hampshire voters head to the polls on Feb. 11.

National polls of the race have found Biden in a much stronger position. An ABC News-Washington Post survey released Sunday found Biden leading the field with 28 percent to Sanders’s 24 percent. (A 1-point gain for Biden and a 5-point jump for Sanders.)

All three polls found Warren’s support sliding as Sanders gained, though the Massachusetts senator just picked up the coveted Des Moines Register’s endorsement on Saturday.

The Register, the largest newspaper in Iowa, also has the most-watched poll of the state caucuses. That poll will be released on Feb. 1.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News: