Sanders overtakes Biden in national poll for first time

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Joe Biden looks to rebound in New Hampshire after finishing fourth in Iowa caucuses

The former vice president hope to rally support in the Granite State. Jacqui Heinrich reports.

A new Quinnipiac University poll released Monday shows Bernie Sanders leading former Vice President Joe Biden nationally, giving the Vermont senator front-runner status in a national poll for the first time.

Released in the wake of the botched Iowa caucuses and a day before the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire, the poll shows Sanders overtaking Biden with 25 percent of the vote among Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democratic. Biden, meanwhile, garnered 17 percent.

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The poll showed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg with 15 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts with 14 percent, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 10 percent, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota with 4 percent.

In a Jan. 28 poll from Quinnipiac, prior to the Iowa caucuses, Biden held the lead with 26 percent of the vote, while Sanders had 21 percent.

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“Biden scrambles to bounce back in frigid New Hampshire after an icy slide to 17 percent, his lowest national number,” Quinnipiac University poll analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement Monday.

Sanders’ new status comes after the Iowa Democratic Party announced that Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses in terms of delegates, but Sanders declared victory in the popular vote. After the announcement of the final results late Sunday, the Sanders campaign announced it would seek a partial recanvass of some precincts in which there were apparent irregularities.

In Iowa, though, Biden came in fourth place, trailing Buttigieg, Sanders, and Warren.

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The new Quinnipiac poll shows that Biden no longer dominates on the question of electability, as 27 percent say Biden has the best chance of winning against President Trump in the general election, while 24 percent say Sanders could defeat the incumbent.

“Clearly Biden’s fourth place finish in Iowa has hurt the perception of what was his biggest strength,” Malloy said.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s standing in the poll gives him his second of the four national polls needed to qualify for the Democratic debate in Nevada on Feb. 19 ahead of the Nevada caucuses later this month. Bloomberg needs two more national polls, with a ranking above 10 percent, and before Feb. 18, in order to qualify for the debate.

“Is the Bloomberg camp prepping the white horse for him to ride to the rescue?” Malloy said. “Maybe not yet, but without setting foot in Iowa or New Hampshire, he is suddenly a looming shadow over the primary field.”

Bloomberg entered the race late, announcing his presidential bid in late November and will skip the New Hampshire primary, Nevada caucuses, and South Carolina primary—the four early voting states that kick off the nominating calendar in February. Instead, Bloomberg is concentrating on the delegate-rich Super Tuesday states that vote on March 3, and beyond.

Among moderate and conservative Democrats and Democratic leaners, Biden was the front-runner, taking 22 percent of the vote, but Monday’s poll shows Bloomberg inching up behind him with 21 percent. Sanders polled with 17 percent, and Buttigieg received 12 percent.