Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has pulled ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden in the latest Iowa polls.
The Democrat Socialist is now nine points ahead of Biden, just days before the state will hold the first caucuses of the 2020 election season.
According to the Emerson College poll of registered Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents, 30 percent of voters plan to cast their ballots for Sanders this week. Biden came in second with 21 percent followed by Amy Klobuchar at 11 percent and Elizabeth Warren at 13 percent.
“Compared to the Emerson Poll of Iowa in December, Sanders has picked up the most support, rising eight points. Biden has lost two points, Klobuchar has moved up three points, and Warren has dropped one point. Buttigieg has lost the most support, falling eight points. Yang and Gabbard have each risen by three points, and Steyer has moved up two points,” the pollsters report.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the only other candidate to get above five percent, coming in fifth place, with ten percent planning to vote for him.
Spencer Kimball, Director of Emerson College Polling, noted that “currently, only two candidates are above the 15 percent threshold. This means that at the caucus, the second and third-tier candidate supporters will have an impact on the eventual winner, even if the winner is not their first choice.”
Those polled were also asked who their second choice would be if their top pick does not meet the threshold.
The poll found that Klobuchar and Buttigieg supporters will largely go for Biden, while the majority of Warren supporters will head for Sanders.
Nearly half of Yang’s supporters, 49 percent, said they will also go to Sanders — but 18 percent said they will leave the caucus all together if he does not make the cut.
Supporters of Gabbard are the most ardent in their support, with a whopping 35 percent saying they will leave the caucus if she does not reach viability, while only 26 percent say they would vote for Warren and 18 percent who said they would move to Sanders.
