Biden’s support slips as Harris makes strides in new post-debate polls

Former Vice President Joe Biden saw his lead over the 2020 Democratic field slip, while Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) climbed, according to two polls released on Wednesday after a primary debate in which the two candidates engaged in a tense exchange.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between June 28 and July 2 found Biden’s support had slipped to 22 percent from 30 percent.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) retained his hold in second place in the poll after climbing by 1 percentage point to 16 percent.

But Harris made big strides, overtaking Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to vault to third place with 10 percent support, up from 6 percent.

{mosads}Warren was just behind Harris, with her support climbing 1 point to 9 percent.

The polls are consistent with others showing Biden’s lead slipped following the debate after Harris challenged Biden over his opposition to racial busing decades ago.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll also released Wednesday showed Biden leading the field with support from 29 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. The poll showed 23 percent supporting Sanders, 11 percent supporting Harris and 11 percent supporting Warren. 

The ABC/Washington Post poll also found that Harris was seen as the standout performer in the first debate, with 41 percent saying so compared to 26 percent saying this of Warren, who was next highest of the four top-polling contenders. 

The ABC News/Washington Post poll of 1,008 adults, including 460 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, was conducted between June 28 and July 1 over the phone. Its results have a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 points. 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and surveyed 2,221 adults, including 1,367 Democrats and independents. It had a credibility interval 3 percentage points. The previous Reuters poll conducted May 29 to June 5 with credibility interval of 2 percentage points.