Poll: Bloomberg Overtakes Harris Just Weeks after Entering the Race
In the first weeks of his late-breaking presidential campaign, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s poll numbers have surpassed those of Senator Kamala Harris, who launched her campaign in January.
Bloomberg now garners 6 percent support among likely Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters, up from 3 percent before he officially entered the primary last month, according to a recent Hill-HarrisX poll.
Harris meanwhile dropped to 2 percent support from her previous 4 percent. The California senator has struggled to keep her campaign afloat financially in recent weeks, slashing her staff and shifting her strategy to focus almost solely on Iowa.
A Morning Consult poll also showed Bloomberg at 5 percent, tied with Harris.
President Trump’s campaign has meanwhile moved to ice out Bloomberg News, announcing that it will not credential Bloomberg reporters for Trump campaign events after the news outlet said it would investigate the Trump campaign but not the campaigns of 2020 Democratic candidates.
Bloomberg, who has poured staggering amounts of cash into his bid to overtake the frontrunners, still trails the four top Democratic presidential candidates significantly. He kicked off his campaign last month with a $37-million ad buy, sparking criticism from some of his rivals that the billionaire businessman is attempting to “buy” the election.
“Telling billionaires they can come and buy elections, that does not make democracy work,” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, another Democratic 2020 contender, said.
Former vice president Joe Biden currently leads in the Democratic primary at around 31 percent. Behind him, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped 3 points to 15 percent, Warren dropped 5 points to 10 percent, and South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg increased his support 2 points up to 9 percent, according to the poll.
