Poll: Biden, Warren lead, while Sanders and Harris tied in 3rd place

Rebecca Morin
Sen. Bernie Sanders has slipped from his second-place standing in several recent polls. In a new NBC News/WSJ poll, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has claimed second place behind Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is slipping from his second-place standing in the 2020 Democratic primary race, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday.

And, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are leading, according to the same poll.

Biden is at 26% with registered voters who say they are going to participate in the 2020 Democratic primaries and caucuses. Warren follows at 19%, according to the poll.

Sanders is at 13%, tying with Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who has the same level of support in the poll.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is at 7%. The only other candidates to top one percentage point were Andrew Yang and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who are both at 2%.

For the 400 Democratic primary voters surveyed in the poll, there is a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points

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The poll comes several weeks after the first Democratic primary debate. Since then, several polls have been released showing Sanders has fallen from his earlier second-place standing behind front-runner Biden.

In a Quinnipiac poll released last week, Biden led with 22%, followed by Harris at 20%, Warren at 14% and Sanders at 13%.

In Thursday's NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Harris leads as the second choice for voters who say they will participate in the Democratic primaries or caucuses, with 14%. Warren had 13%.; Sanders, 12%; and Biden had 10%.

The poll was conducted July 7-9 after the first Democratic primary debates last month and the back-and-forth that followed the debates on race and health care issues.

Harris had a breakout moment during the first Democratic primary debate late last month, when she confronted Biden for opposing federally mandated busing to integrate schools while he was in Congress decades ago.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Poll: Biden, Warren lead, while Sanders and Harris tied in 3rd place