NH poll: Sanders surges into the lead, followed by Buttigeig, Biden as Iowa results still roll in
WASHINGTON – With less than one week until the New Hampshire primary and no final results from the Iowa caucuses, Granite State voters are favoring Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to a new poll.
Sanders is at 24% with registered New Hampshire Democrats and unaffiliated voters who are likely to participate in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to a Monmouth University New Hampshire poll released Thursday. Former mayor Pete Buttigieg is at 20%, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden at 17%. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the only other candidate in the double digits, at 13%.
Since the last Monmouth University poll released in January, Sanders has jumped 6 percentage points. Buttigeig has remained the same, while Biden has fallen 2 percentage points since January.
More: An unprecedented delay has voters still waiting for a declared winner in the Iowa caucuses
Sen. Amy Klobuchar follows the top 4 at 9%. No other candidates got above 4%.
The new poll comes as Iowa continues to release results from Monday night's caucuses, where no winner has been declared yet. With 96% of precincts reporting, Buttigieg and Sanders are neck and neck.
According to the Monmouth University poll, only 49% of New Hampshire primary voters are firmly set on a their candidate choice. The poll also found that 78% of primary voters said the Iowa caucus results didn't change their thinking about which candidate to back, while 15% said that Iowa made them take a second look at the candidate they're supporting. Only 3% say that they intend to change their vote due to the Iowa results.
Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement that "there are some hints in the poll that Buttigieg could be helped and Biden hurt as the caucus results start to sink in."
“Many voters in New Hampshire remain open to switching their support," Murray said.
Murray also noted that Sanders leads in all of their turnout models.
“The potential for change in this race seems to be as much about persuading voters to switch horses as it is about absolute turnout,” said Murray.
One question that remains is whether Biden supporters will start to have second thoughts, which might not happen until the final days before the primary, Murray said.
“Confidence is contagious and voters want to go with a winner," he said. "This race remains fluid because voters are looking for the strongest candidate to take on Donald Trump."
The poll has is a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, and was conducted via telephone between Feb. 3 to 5, with 777 registered New Hampshire voters contacted for the poll. Of the 777 registered voters, 503 were likely to vote in the Democratic primary. In addition, 130 of the likely Democratic primary voters were contacted before the first results of the Iowa caucuses were released.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NH poll: Bernie Sanders leads, followed by Pete Buttigeig, Joe Biden
