Former Vice President Joe Biden , the party’s longtime frontrunner, is in 4th place in the Democratic race for president among likely Iowa caucusgoers, while Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren finds herself in 1st place in the state, according to a Friday poll from The New York Times and Siena College.
Warren is in the lead with 22 percent of support among the likely caucusgoers; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders found himself in 2nd place with 19 percent of support; South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg is in 3rd with 18 percent of support; and the former vice president was in 4th place with 17 percent of support.
Among some of the other candidates in the still-crowded race for president, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar secured 4 percent in the poll, California Sen. Kamala Harris obtained 3 percent, and businessman Andrew Yang, who obtained the same 3 percent of support in Iowa.
The poll was conducted between October 25 and 30, and surveyed 439 likely Democratic caucusgoers, according to The New York Times. The poll has a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points. As The New York Times noted, no single candidate has a decisive advantage, though likely caucusgoers appear to be lending support to the candidates who have pledged to challenge the political and economic status quo in the country.
Per The New York Times, although Biden still leads in many national polls, his performance in an early primary and caucus, like Iowa, might give the candidate cause for concern. When the former vice president announced his campaign in April, he was on top in nearly all national polls, including those that surveyed Iowa caucusgoers, The Times said.
The survey also asked Iowans about several hot-button issues on the campaign trail. Eighty-nine percent of likely caucusgoers said they supported raising Social Security benefits by $200 per month. Seventy percent of those surveyed said they were in favor of free college tuition for all. Seventy-seven percent of Iowans polled said they supported breaking up big-tech companies, which has been a hallmark of the Warren campaign.
On the healthcare front, which has been a point of contention between the candidates on the campaign trail, 73 percent said they supported creating a single-payer system that abolished private health insurance in favor of a government insurance plan. Ninety-one percent said they supported creating an optional government health insurance plan available for purchase.
While all campaigns have supported changes to America’s healthcare system, candidates like Warren and Sanders have supported a Medicare-for-all approach, while candidates like Buttigieg and Biden have been less open to the idea of abolishing private insurance options. Warren received flak for refusing to say whether her Medicare-for-All plan would require taxes to be raised on the middle class, though she has insisted overall costs would decrease. The Massachusetts candidate last week pledged to release a plan to explain how she would pay for the change, though she hasn’t yet done so.
As The New York Times reported, Warren had the broadest appeal among those surveyed when asked which candidate was their second choice. She is either the first or second choice of 47 percent of Iowa Democrats, the poll said. She is the second-choice candidate for two-thirds of Sanders supporters. Only one in 10 voters said Biden was their second choice, putting him in 4th place by that metric.