Poll shows Buttigieg in third behind Biden, Sanders in Iowa

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is in third place among Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, according to a new poll of Democratic voters in the state.

The Monmouth University Poll survey released Thursday shows Buttigieg with the support of 9 percent of voters polled, putting him behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Biden, who has not yet declared his candidacy, leads the Democratic field with the support of 27 percent of respondents, while Sanders is sitting at 16 percent, according to the poll.

Buttigieg, who is expected to formally announce his campaign on Sunday, was polling at less than 1 percent in Monmouth’s March poll on the same topic. 

{mosads}Thursday’s poll is the second in recent weeks to show Buttigieg in third place in Iowa. An Emerson College poll published last month showed Buttigieg with the support of 11 percent of likely Iowa caucusgoers surveyed and also put him behind only Biden and Sanders. 

The Monmouth poll had a margin of error of 5.2 percentage points, just under the 6.2 percentage points in the Emerson poll.

Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement that Buttigieg could continue to ascend in Iowa. 

“Buttigieg’s current standing in the horse race is impressive given that nearly half of likely Democratic caucusgoers have yet to form an opinion of him. He has one of the best positive to negative ratios in the field. He could move up if he is able to maintain that rating as he introduces himself to more voters,” Murray said. 

Following Buttigieg in the poll are Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) at 7 percent each. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) is in sixth, with 6 percent. 

The poll’s results are based on interviews with 351 Democratic voters in Iowa from April 4 to April 9.