Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are the most popular potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, according to a new American Barometer poll.
The poll, which is a joint project of Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, showed Biden with a 50 percent favorable rating, while Sanders trailed with a 48 percent favorable rating.
Only 31 percent of those polled said they viewed the former vice president unfavorably. A third of respondents said they viewed Sanders unfavorably.
The survey comes as speculation swirls around a slew of potential Democratic contenders, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), who could challenge President Trump in 2020.
Warren held the highest favorable rating among Democratic senators listed in the survey, with 33 percent of those polled saying they held a favorable view of the senator.
The poll showed Gillibrand holding a 20 percent favorable rating, while 21 percent of respondents said they have a favorable view of Harris, and 23 percent said the same for Booker.
Name recognition remains an obstacle for many Democratic contenders.
Thirty-four percent of respondents said they had never heard of Gillibrand, while 36 percent said the same for Harris. Thirty-two percent of respondents had not heard of Booker.
Only 4 percent of those polled said they had never heard of Biden or Sanders.
Democratic pollster Margie Omero urged caution when speculating about current 2020 polling. Omero said that much could change before the presidential election.
“I remember lots of green room snickering over Bernie Sanders in September before the [2016 Democratic] primary,” Omero told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking” Friday. “A lot can change. That doesn’t mean that Joe Biden doesn’t have an advantage.”
“I think there are going to be a lot of Democrats who are going to feel torn because there are so many exciting candidates from which to choose,” she continued.
The survey was conducted July 21–22 among 1,001 registered voters.
— Julia Manchester
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