Bernie Sanders Was The Only Candidate To Lose Support Following Tuesday’s Democratic Debate

Although he’s still a Top 3 candidate among the crowded field of Democratic contenders vying for the party’s nomination to oust Donald Trump in next year’s general election, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was the only candidate in the race to lose support following Tuesday night’s debate.

The news comes from Five Thirty Eight, who partnered with Ipsos to survey voters before and after the debate Tuesday night, hosted by CNN and The New York Times. As Five Thirty Eight noted, the drop was small and less than a percentage point, from 39.1 percent of those surveyed who said they considered voting for Sanders before the debate to 38.8 percent following it.

Still, candidates including South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar all saw an increase in support following their performance in the Tuesday night spectacle.

Buttigieg, the youngest candidate in the race, got the largest jump in support following his debate performance, which featured a notable spar with Warren. Prior to the debate, 20.3 percent of respondents said they were considering casting a ballot for the South Bend mayor, while 24.8 percent said they were considering a Buttigieg vote following his performance in the debate.

Warren, who has emerged as the party’s frontrunner in certain polls, also saw a notable increase in support, from 49.5 percent before the debate to 52.1 percent afterward. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who also sparred with Warren during the fourth debate, also saw a jump from 6.6 percent to 10.2 percent, according to Five Thirty Eight.

The poll showed that former Vice President Joe Biden, the party’s longtime frontrunner who has lost some ground to Warren in recent weeks, still ranked highest in this particular poll, with a moderate increase from 55.1 percent to 56.6 percent of support following the debate.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Sanders, who recently scaled back his campaign following a heart attack suffered while campaigning in Nevada, could receive an important endorsement at an upcoming rally. A group of freshman legislators known as ‘the squad’ is expected to endorse the self-described Democratic Socialist.

The announcement is expected to occur at Sanders’ upcoming “Bernie’s Back” rally in New York on Saturday, which is the presidential hopeful’s first rally since his heart attack earlier this month. Sanders has teased a special guest at the rally, which will reportedly be Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken progressive member of congress and principal member of ‘the squad.’

Ocasio-Cortez would not be the first squad member to publicly endorse Sanders. Fellow squad member Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on Tuesday officially announced her support for Sanders in a statement. Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib is also expected to endorse the Vermont senator’s presidential campaign.