Warren rises to second in California poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a small lead over the field of Democratic contenders in California, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is hot on his heels and has edged past Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) into second place, according to a new poll.

The survey from the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies finds Biden at 22 percent support. Warren and Sanders are in a statistical tie, at 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

{mosads}Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who will need a strong showing in her home state to compete, is in fourth place with 13 percent, followed by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 10 percent.

California Democrats will cast ballots earlier than in previous cycles, making the most delegate-rich state in the contest a huge prize for the contenders. Voters will cast ballots on Super Tuesday, on March 3.

The U.C. Berkeley survey is the latest poll to find Warren rising as she seeks to overtake Sanders in the race to be the party’s progressive standard-bearer.

A Monmouth University survey released Wednesday of Nevada, which is the third state to vote, found Warren with a clear lead over Sanders, 19 to 13 percent. That was the first public opinion poll to find her ahead of Sanders.

Also on Wednesday, the latest straw poll from the progressive website Daily Kos found Warren surging past Sanders to open up a 34 to 25 percent lead. While that poll is not scientific, it is generally considered an indicator of where the enthusiasm lies with the liberal base.

The new U.C. Berkeley survey of California found that Harris is the top second choice among California voters, with 21 percent, followed by Warren at 17 percent and Biden and Sanders at 12 percent.

When you combine Warren’s support among voters who called her their first or second choice, she has the most support in the entire field, followed closely by Biden, Harris and Sanders.

The U.C. Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll of 2,131 likely Democratic primary voters in California was conducted from June 4 to June 10 and has a 3 percentage point margin of error.