O’Rourke doubles support in CNN poll of Dem presidential race

Rep. Beto O’Rourke has doubled his support in a new CNN poll measuring the popularity of possible Democratic presidential candidates.

Nine percent of Democrats polled said they would likely support O’Rouke in the 2020 race, putting him second in the poll behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who won 30 percent, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who won 14 percent. 

Both Biden and Sanders have much higher name recognition than O’Rourke, however, and Biden saw his support fall slightly. 

In a similar Oct. 4-7 poll, Biden won 33 percent of the vote and Sanders won 13 percent. O’Rourke only received 4 percent support in that poll, which was conducted during his Senate campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). O’Rourke lost that race, but it was a close result that has propelled him further into the presidential discussion.

{mosads}O’Rourke has met with a number of prominent Democrats in recent weeks, including former President Obama and Rev. Al Sharpton.

O’Rourke’s rising support may be coming at the expense of other Democrats.

Both Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Ca.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) lost 5 percent support in the poll, with Harris falling from 9 percent to 4 percent, and Warren falling from 8 percent to 3 percent. 

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) finished fourth in the poll with 5 percent, the same level of support he won in October.

Harris and former Secretary of State John Kerry, who ran for president as the Democratic nominee in 2004, each won 4 percent. 

Along with Warren, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) won 3 percent.

The poll, conducted by SRS, interviewed 463 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents between Dec. 6 and 9. The margin of error among the sample was 5.6 points.