Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden leads the 2020 Democratic field in the early presidential state of Nevada, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren placing second and Sen. Bernard Sanders in third, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Mr. Biden had the support of 36 percent of likely Nevada caucus-goers, followed by Ms. Warren at 19 percent and Mr. Sanders at 13 percent, according to the Monmouth University poll.
Mr. Sanders has been in second place behind Mr. Biden in much of the public polling on the 2020 race, though a new national Economist/YouGov poll also showed him in third place behind Mr. Biden and Ms. Warren.
In the Nevada poll, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was next at 7 percent and Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California was at 6 percent. No other candidate topped 2 percent.
Mr. Biden was well in front among Nevada voters who said they consider themselves moderate or conservative, winning 47 percent support from that group. Ms. Warren of Massachusetts was at 11 percent, followed by Mr. Sanders of Vermont at 9 percent.
Among “very liberal” voters, though, Ms. Warren edged out Mr. Sanders, 27 percent to 26 percent, with Mr. Biden in third at 19 percent. Those voters made up about one-quarter of likely Nevada caucus-goers.
“Nevada’s highly unionized service sector workforce may be a good fit for Warren’s policy platform when you look at the Democratic electorates in the four early states,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
“However, she is nowhere near the top tier in terms of candidate preferences among Latino and black voters, who make up a significant part of the party’s base here,” Mr. Murray said.
Nearly two-thirds of likely Democratic voters in the state said they would prefer a nominee who would be a strong candidate against President Trump even if they disagreed on most issues, compared to 25 percent who said they would favor a candidate aligned with them on issues even if they would have a hard time beating Mr. Trump.
The survey of 370 likely Nevada voters was conducted from June 6-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.