Biden surges into lead nationally after Buttigieg, Klobuchar exits: poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden surged to the top of the 2020 Democratic presidential field after former candidates Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) ended their campaigns, a poll released on Tuesday found.

The Morning Consult poll released on the day of Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states shows Biden leading with 36 percent support nationally. 

The former vice president had 26 percent in Sunday’s poll, which was taken after he won the South Carolina primary but before Buttigieg and Klobuchar left the race.  

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has the most delegates after four contests, sits at 28 percent in the new poll, with no significant change from Sunday. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg follows with 19 percent and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has 14 percent.

Biden now has the most nationwide support since June.

The former vice president jumped in the poll after Klobuchar and Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., endorsed him to combine the previously split moderate Democratic vote. The three candidates all positioned themselves as alternatives to Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist. Former presidential candidate and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) also endorsed Biden on Monday.

Sanders has led the Democratic primary race, winning contests in New Hampshire and Nevada. The senator has 60 delegates, compared to Biden’s 54.

More than a third of the total delegates are at stake on Super Tuesday. 

The Morning Consult poll surveyed 961 Democratic voters between Monday at 3 p.m. and Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Other polls ahead of the races show Biden gaining significant ground after South Carolina’s primary and with support from moderates who want to don’t want Sanders to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.