Biden, Warren, Harris and Sanders Lead 2020 Democratic Race: NBC / WSJ Poll

According to the first NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll, Joe Biden heads the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race.

The former vice president enjoys the support of 26% of voters at the national level who plan to vote in 2020, according to poll released Thursday. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Follows at 19%.

Meaning. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., And Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Each receive 13% of support, according to the survey. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg completes the top 5 with 7%. Former Beto representative O & # Rourke and entrepreneur Andrew Yang both won 2% of the vote, and no other candidate from about two dozen won more than 1%.

The survey largely reflects what recent polls have revealed on candidates running for President Donald Trump's competition next year. While Biden has taken a more substantial lead in advance polls, polls suggest a tighter fight after the first democratic debate held last month that brought more voters to the field.

Many things can change before Democratic voters begin to choose their candidate. The first Iowa caucus, in the country, sits in about seven months.

Only 12% of those surveyed in the NBC / WSJ survey said they had made the decision about who they would support next year. Asked about their second choice as president, 14% of respondents chose Harris. She was followed by Warren at 13% and Sanders at 12%. At the same time, 10% of respondents chose Biden as second choice and 8%, Buttigieg.

The survey was conducted after the first Democratic debate in Miami, which seemed to reflect Harris and Warren well. Nearly half – 47 percent – of Democratic primary voters who attended at least part of the debate or paid close attention to their coverage in the press said that Harris had impressed them the most. About a third said Warren was the most impressed.

Harris, one of three black candidates on the field, created the most discussed moment of debate when she targeted Biden's record on race and her position on school transportation policy. She told her story about being driven by bus to a newly integrated California school while she was a kid.

The former vice president comfortably leads the pack among voters of the African-American Democratic primary, according to the NBC / WSJ poll. He won 46% of the vote, followed closely by Harris at 17%. Among non-white primary voters, Biden won 33% of the vote, followed by Harris (16%), Sanders (15%) and Warren (14%).

Biden is at the head of primary voters who consider themselves moderate or conservative. Warren has an advantage over Sanders among Liberal respondents.

A central question that will define the Democratic primary is whether voters want radical reforms or a gradual change. For example, Sanders and Warren supported a single-payer "Medicare for All" system and massive cancellation of student debt. Biden and others have warned against Medicare for all or the widespread cancellation of debt, saying the plans were too expensive.

More than half (54%) of Democrat primary voters said they want a candidate who "proposes policies on a larger scale that are more expensive and may be more difficult to legislate, but could make major changes" on issues such as health care, climate change, college affordability and economic opportunities. In the meantime, 41% said they would prefer a candidate who "proposes policies that are smaller, cheaper and easier to pass through the law, but which will bring less change" to these issues.

Warren is leading among respondents who want a major change with 29% support, followed by Sanders with 18%. Both candidates proposed a radical overhaul of the political and economic system, and Sanders first gained popularity as a candidate in 2016 by promising a "political revolution". Meanwhile, voters who want smaller adjustments mostly choose Biden.

Of all registered voters, 44% favor a single-payer health system, while 49% oppose it.

The poll also asked voters if they supported a candidate more based on an ideology or their ability to deny Trump a second term in the White House. Among the primary voters of Democrats, 51% said they wanted a candidate close to their point of view on certain issues. At the same time, 45% said they wanted a candidate with the best chance of defeating the president.

Of those who consider Trump to be the most important, 34% chose Biden, followed by Warren (21%) and Harris (16%). Of respondents who say they prefer to agree on issues, Biden and Warren are tied at 18%, while Harris gets 17% support.

The NBC / WSJ survey polled 800 registered voters from 7 to 9 July. More than half of these voters were contacted by mobile phone. Its overall error margin is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Among the 400 Democratic primary voters surveyed, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

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