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Sanders Takes Iowa Lead Over Buttigieg, Biden in NYT Poll

Sanders Takes Iowa Lead Over Buttigieg, Biden in NYT Poll

(Bloomberg) -- 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 poll showed a wide margin of error, with many voters still open to switching their choice in the final days before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses are held Feb. 3.

Sanders had the support of 25% of likely caucus-goers, up six points since the previous version of the survey in late October — chiefly at the expense of fellow progressive Warren. 

He’s pulled ahead of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Buttigieg at 18% and former Vice President Biden at 17%. Warren was at 15%, down from 22% in October, and Senator Amy Klobuchar was at 8%, days after the two U.S. Senators received a joint endorsement from the newspaper.  

Even with Sanders in the lead, the poll showed that 55% of those surveyed preferred a Democratic standard-bearer who is “more moderate than most Democrats” against 38% who wanted one who is more liberal than most.  Voters were split on whether to support a candidate they agreed with on most issues, or one who has the best chance to beat President Donald Trump in November’s general election. 

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 plus or minus 4.8 percentage points for the Democratic caucus electorate and 2.8 percentage points for registered voters. 

A RealClearPolitics average of recent Iowa polls shows Biden and Sanders essentially neck-and-neck followed by Buttigieg and Warren. 

(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.)

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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