Reuters poll finds Sanders cutting Biden national lead to single digits

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has surged back into a single-digit deficit behind former Vice President Joe Biden in a poll of the Democratic primary field.

Sanders trails Biden by 9 percentage points in a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday, just one week after trailing the former vice president by 21 points in the same poll.

The Vermont senator sits at 39 percent among registered Democratic voters in the poll, compared to 48 percent for Biden. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), the only other Democratic contender remaining in the race, sits at 2 percent in the poll.

Sanders is hoping for a resurgence in the primary after a damaging series of losses to Biden in South Carolina, in 10 states voting on Super Tuesday and then in Michigan last week. He now trails Biden by about 150 pledged delegates. 

Three states are holding contests on Tuesday, with Biden favored in all three. But the coronavirus crisis gripping the country has added some uncertainty to the contests ahead. Ohio was also scheduled to hold a primary on Tuesday, but it was postponed due to worries about the coronavirus. 

Biden remains the front-runner for the nomination after nearly being counted out of the race entirely following his own disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire behind candidates who have since dropped out and endorsed his candidacy, such as former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D).

The Reuters-Ipsos poll was taken between March 13 and March 16. Four hundred fifty-eight registered Democratic voters were surveyed with a margin of error of 5.2 percentage points.