Sanders, Biden, Yang Lead New Mexico Democratic Primary In New Emerson Poll
A new Emerson poll of the New Mexico Democratic primary puts Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the lead in New Mexico with 28 percent support, trailed by former Vice President Joe Biden with 27 percent support. In third place is businessman Andrew Yang with 10 percent support. Everyone else is in single digits, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in fourth place with 8 percent support and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg in fifth with 7 percent support.
“It appears if Sanders and Biden are able to emerge as the top two candidates, they are set up for a close showdown in New Mexico – but the race is still fluid as a majority of voters, 52%, say they could change their mind,” explained Spencer Kimball, Director of Emerson College Polling.
Sanders’ lead follows a recent CBS News Battleground Tracker poll that put him in first place in New Hampshire and tied for first with Biden and Buttigieg in Iowa. The 78-year-old politician has been surging in recent polls amid sources claiming that he is being considered a viable contender for the nomination from Democratic insiders. The reports are notable as media coverage of Sanders has been notoriously dismissive throughout the primary, echoing his treatment during his 2016 run.
#NEW: Emerson College poll finds New Mexico Democratic primary voters split between Sen. Bernie Sanders & fmr VP Joe Biden:
Sanders 28%
Biden 27%
Yang 10%
Warren 8%
Buttigieg 7%
Bloomberg 3%
Klobuchar/Booker/Gabbard 2%
(MOE +/- 4.6%) pic.twitter.com/uP47JId62l— Jenn Franco KESQ (@jennfranconews) January 7, 2020
Although Biden has been the frontrunner in the primary for most of the race and still leads in overall average polling, a Rasmussen Reports report claims he is at his lowest level of support to date.
“Joe Biden still leads the Democratic presidential pack, but as the campaign season begins in earnest, he has fallen to his lowest level of support to date.”
The survey put the 77-year-old politician at 30 percent support among Likely Democratic Voters, a decline from 37 percent in the previous iteration of the poll conducted at the beginning of December.
In the same CBS polls — conducted along with YouGov — Yang received 2 percent in each state, in conflict with the campaign’s internal polling that suggested he is on the rise nationally. The results led to pushback from supporters that noted a previous survey from YouGov that had the candidate at 11 percent before the pollster claimed the sample’s quality was compromised. Before the pair of polls, the aforementioned Rasmussen Reports survey put the 44-year-old serial entrepreneur at 6 percent among national Democratic likely voters. The pollster also addressed Yang’s supporters on Twitter amid a lack of qualifying polls for the January debate, noting that their previous analysis found that the majority of DNC-approved polls failed to predict Trump’s win in 2016.
