Sanders, Warren gain on Biden in New Hampshire

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a small lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, but Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) posted solid gains and are closing the gap on the front-runner, according to a new poll.

The latest Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll finds Biden at 21 percent support, followed by Sanders at 17 percent and Warren at 14 percent. No other candidate has double-digit support in the Granite State.

Sanders and Warren were the poll’s biggest gainers, picking up 5 points and 6 points, respectively, over the same poll from April.

{mosads}Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is in fourth place at 8 percent support, followed by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 6 percent and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) at 3 percent. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is at 1 percent support and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) registered 0 percent support.

The latest Suffolk poll shows a significantly tighter race than the same survey in late April, which found Biden in the lead at 20 percent, followed by Sanders and Buttigieg at 12 percent, Warren at 8 percent and Harris at 6 percent.

Gabbard was at 1 percent support in the prior poll and got a little bump that will push her closer to qualifying for the next debate in September in Houston.

Sanders’s support is the firmest in the field, with 48 percent of his supporters saying they will definitely support him, followed by 45 percent of Biden’s supporters and 35 percent of Warren’s supporters who said they will not change their minds.

But Warren might have the most room to grow, with 21 percent describing her as their second choice, making her the top back-up candidate in the field. Sixty percent of voters overall said they still might change their minds.

“This is an especially important number now that a number of candidates could drop out soon and shows how she could grow,” said David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

The survey of 500 likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire was conducted between Aug. 1 and 4 and has a 4.4 percentage-point margin of error.