Bernie Sanders Leads Pete Buttigieg By 4 Points In New Hampshire Poll
A new NBC News/Marist College poll released Friday shows Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with a 4-point lead over South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, The Hill reported.
Of the likely New Hampshire voters polled, Sanders gained 25 percent support, while Buttigieg gained 21 percent. As The Hill noted, the lead is within the poll’s margin of error.
In third place is Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 14 percent support, and in fourth is former Vice President Joe Biden with 13 percent. All of the remaining candidates are in the single digits.
Unsurprisingly, Sanders maintains a 19-point lead among the progressive voters polled, and Buttigieg has an 8-point lead among moderate voters.
The poll was reportedly conducted immediately after Monday’s Iowa caucuses, which Buttigieg controversially declared victory over before the official results were in.
The data comes hours before Friday’s Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, which will include Sanders, Buttigieg, Warren, Biden, Venture for American founder Andrew Yang, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and businessman Tom Steyer.
New Hampshire is set to hold its primary on Tuesday and will be an essential battle to win for all of the candidates after the Iowa caucus fiasco, which was so riddled with inconsistencies that it led Associated Press to claim that it could not determine a victor.
“The AP will continue to monitor the race, as well as the results of any potential recanvass or recount,” the report reads.
Bernie Sanders’ campaign turns up the heat on Pete Buttigieg, starting the hashtag #PetesBillionaires. This follows Sanders himself criticizing Buttigieg over his billionaire donors at an event today in New Hampshire. pic.twitter.com/R3FgiuJa4D
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) February 7, 2020
CNBC reported that a Buttigieg win in New Hampshire could help ensure his campaign gains the fundraising needed to stay in the primary, while a Sanders win would help solidify his recent surge.
“A Sanders win in the state would further solidify his position near the top of the 2020 Democratic primary race,” the publication wrote. “He hopes to make a run for the top spot in the third and fourth nominating states of Nevada and South Carolina, and has a polling lead in California, a prize on the upcoming Super Tuesday.”
As The Inquisitr reported, the latest Morning Consult survey showed that the majority of respondents said they were leaning toward voting for Sanders following the controversial Iowa caucuses. In particular, 29 percent said they were “much more likely” to support the Vermont senator, and 23 percent said they were “somewhat more likely.”
As for Buttigieg, 38 percent of respondents said they are more likely to support Buttigieg. However, they they did so with less enthusiasm than those leaning toward Sanders — only 14 percent said they were “much more likely” to support the 38-year-old politician.
