Bernie Sanders Surges to Lead in California, Propelled by Liberals

(Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders has not only taken the lead in several recent surveys of voters in Iowa, which holds the first in the nation caucuses on Monday, but he has also pushed to the head of the Democratic field in delegate-rich California.

The Vermont senator, who has had strong support from Latinos and young voters, has been propelled into the top spot by voters who self-identify as “very liberal,” according to the latest UC Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies poll, conducted for the Los Angeles Times.

Sanders has support from 26% of voters likely to cast ballots in the state’s March 3 Democratic primary, drawing support from liberals largely at the expense of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren is now backed by 20% of likely voters, which is down from earlier surveys showing she had 22% in November and 29% in September in the state.

The rest of California’s likely primary voters remain divided among several candidates, which has left the party’s front-runner nationally, Vice President Joe Biden, with only 15% in the most populous state.

That cut-off is important in California because, under the state Democratic Party rules, delegates are awarded only to those candidates with at least 15% of the vote statewide or in individual congressional districts. The remaining candidates in the poll are all below that, with former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 7%, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 6%, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota at 5%, businessman Andrew Yang at 4% and billionaire Tom Steyer at 2%.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

The UC Berkeley IGS poll was conducted online in English and Spanish from Jan. 15-21. The estimated margin of error for likely Democratic voters is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

This post is part of Campaign Update, our live coverage from the 2020 campaign trail.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net

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