Sen. Kamala D. Harris has jumped into second place in Iowa in a new poll on the 2020 Democratic presidential field, trailing only former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
Mr. Biden had the support of 24% of likely Democratic caucus-goers, followed by Ms. Harris of California at 16%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 13% and Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont at 9%, according to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll out Tuesday
Ms. Harris more than doubled her support from a June poll, which had her at 7%.
Ms. Harris also jumped to second place in a national CNN poll released Monday, after a head-turning performance in last week’s presidential debate in which she confronted Mr. Biden on his past positions on bussing to desegregate schools.
In the Iowa poll, six in 10 said they might change their mind, but among those who watched the debate, more than four in 10 said Mr. Biden did worse than they had expected.
When first and second choices were combined, Mr. Biden edged Ms. Harris 35% to 33%.
“To win in Iowa, you have to be able to woo the supporters of other candidates who drop out or that don’t reach the 15% threshold at the caucus,” said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University’s Political Research Center. “The poll tells us that candidates like Harris, Warren, and (Pete) Buttigieg poll better than Biden and Sanders in this regard, and that sets the stage for a new face exceeding expectations in Iowa.”
The survey of 500 likely caucus-goers was taken Friday through Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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