Warren Gets Backing From Des Moines Register: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- The Des Moines Register endorsed Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic presidential nomination, a little more than a week before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.

The influential newspaper in Iowa’s largest city revealed its pick for the first-in-the-nation nominating contest on its website Saturday evening.

Warren is polling at 16.3% in Iowa, statistically tied for third place with Pete Buttigieg and behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.

While coveted by candidates, the Des Moines Register’s endorsement has been a poor predictor of caucus-night performance. Since the Register started making recommendations in 1988, only three of its endorsed candidates went on to win the state’s caucuses: Republicans Bob Dole in 1988 and 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000, and Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Sanders Asked to Renounce Rogan Endorsement (11:59 a.m.)

The Human Rights Campaign is calling on Bernie Sanders to renounce an endorsement from radio host Joe Rogan, who has made derogatory comments about African Americans and LGBTQ people.

Rogan, who hosts “The Joe Rogan Experience,” one of the most downloaded podcasts, said he would “probably vote for Bernie,” adding “I believe in him. I like him a lot.”

In response, HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement that while Sanders’ campaign has been “unabashedly supportive of the rights of LGBTQ people,” Rogan “has attacked transgender people, gay men, women, people of color and countless marginalized groups at every opportunity.”

The statement from the largest LBGTQ advocacy group and lobbying organization in the U.S. pointed to instances in which Rogan had compared African Americans to “Planet of the Apes,” and repeatedly misgendered transgender people, including referring to MMA fighter Fallon Fox as “that tranny.”

Sanders has appeared on Rogan’s show, as have fellow Democratic candidates Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard. -- Emma Kinery

Bernie Sanders Takes Iowa Lead in NYT Poll (10:16 a.m.)

Senator Bernie Sanders has jumped to the lead in Iowa over Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden, while support for Elizabeth Warren has slipped, according to a New York Times/Siena poll released on Saturday.

The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will be held Feb. 3.

Sanders had the support of 25% of likely caucus-goers, up 6 points since the previous version of the survey in late October.

He’s pulled ahead of Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor at 18% and former Vice President Biden at 17%. Warren was at 15% and Amy Klobuchar at 8%, days after the two U.S. senators received a joint endorsement from the newspaper.

The survey of 1,689 registered voters in Iowa, including 584 Democratic caucus-goers, was conducted Jan. 20-23 and had a margin of error of 4.8 percentage points for the Democratic caucus electorate and 2.8 percentage points for registered voters. -- Ros Krasny

COMING UP:

Some of the Democratic candidates will debate again in New Hampshire on Feb. 7.

The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will be held Feb. 3. The New Hampshire primary is Feb. 11. Nevada holds its caucuses on Feb. 22 and South Carolina has a primary on Feb. 29.

CNN will host town halls featuring eight presidential candidates in New Hampshire on Feb. 5 and 6.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

--With assistance from Ros Krasny and Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Korte in Washington at gkorte@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Max Berley

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