Warren leads Sanders in early Nevada poll, but Biden still leads the pack
Nevadans seem to support Elizabeth Warren more than many other Democratic primary voters.
That's according to a new Monmouth University poll that found the two-term Massachusetts senator trails only former Vice President Joe Biden among likely 2020 caucusgoers in the Silver State.
Here as elsewhere, Biden holds a commanding lead in a deep field of nearly two dozen Democratic contenders. The 76-year-old ex-senator from Delaware picked up 36 percent support among Nevada's registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters, according to a Wednesday release from Monmouth.
Warren won over 19 percent of those polled, topping fellow progressive firebrand and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who picked up 13 percent.
That’s a departure from most national polls, which show Sanders holding a roughly 8 percentage point lead over Warren, according to a Real Clear Politics rolling average of polling.
Pollsters found Nevadans supported Warren more than voters in other early primary states such as New Hampshire and Iowa.
They suspect that could have something to do with Warren’s appeal to the state’s politically powerful trade unions.
“Nevada’s highly unionized service sector workforce may be a good fit for Warren’s policy platform when you look at the Democratic electorates in the four early states,” Patrick Murray, Monmouth’s polling director, said in a statement. “However, she is nowhere near the top tier in terms of candidate preferences among Latino and black voters, who make up a significant part of the party’s base here.”
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Murray pointed out Nevada’s caucus will attract a much more ethnically diverse electorate than other early-nominating states. The poll found immigration is more of a factor for choosing a nominee in Nevada than it is in other early states, and Murray said state’s Latino voters “seem to be particularly up for grabs right now.”
Health care topped the list of important issues for Democratic voters, followed by environmental concerns, immigration, jobs and reproductive rights. Beating President Donald Trump also landed high on the list of voter concerns, with nearly two-thirds of likely caucusgoers reporting they prefer a nominee who would be a strong candidate against Trump even if they disagree with that candidate on most issues.
Such electability concerns have helped buoy Biden’s strong showing in national polls of moderate and conservative Democrats. He’s doing just as well with those voters in Nevada, pulling out to a 36-point lead over Warren among moderates.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg ranked fourth in the Monmouth Poll with 7 percent. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., came in at 6 percent.
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and entrepreneur Andrew Yang each picked up 2 percent of poll respondents. Former cabinet secretary Julián Castro, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and author Marianne Williamson all polled at 1 percent. The remaining 12 candidates earned less than 1 percent or were not chosen by any respondents in the poll.
The survey was conducted from June 6 to 11, drawing on a random sample of 1,333 registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters. The Nevada poll results are based on responses from 370 people out of that group who are likely to attend Nevada’s first-in-the-west caucus in February.
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Warren leads Sanders in early Nevada poll, but Biden still leads the pack
