Poll: Sanders, Buttigieg top 2020 Democrats in New Hampshire

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg are in a statistical tie for the lead in New Hampshire, according to a new WBZ-Boston Globe-Suffolk University tracking poll. 

The survey, which was released late Saturday, just days ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary, shows that 24 percent of the state’s likely Democratic primary voters favor Sanders, while 22 percent support Buttigieg. Sanders’s 2-point advantage falls within the 4.4 percent margin of error. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is in a distant third, garnering 13 percent support. Former Vice President Joe Biden trails her by 3 points, with 10 percent of primary voters saying they favor him to be the Democratic nominee. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) appeared to be the only candidate to gain a boost in the survey following Friday night’s debate. Nine percent of respondents said they’d support the moderate Democrat, a 3-point increase from an identical survey released on Friday. 

The surge stemmed from an uptick in support from independent voters, the biggest voting bloc in New Hampshire. Klobuchar is now earning 10 percent support from the group, a 6-point increase from the start of last week, CBS Boston noted. 

Sanders and Buttigieg are virtually tied in support from independents. Twenty-six percent of independent respondents said they favor Sanders, while 24 percent said they’d select Buttigieg. The figure for Buttigieg represents a 13-point surge in less than a week.

“Sanders looks well-positioned if he can bring out his youth vote. Buttigieg looks comfortable in second place at least,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said. “But to me the real excitement is who’s gonna get that third ticket among Warren, Biden and now a streaking Klobuchar.”

The latest survey falls in line with a CNN poll released Saturday that showed Sanders and Buttigieg outpacing the rest of the 2020 Democratic primary field in New Hampshire. Sanders led Buttigieg in that poll by 7 points. 

The Vermont senator beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire’s 2016 primary by more than 20 points. 

A RealClearPolitics average of polling shows Sanders with a 5.4-point lead over Buttigieg in the state. The WBZ-Boston Globe-Suffolk University tracking poll is the second in a two-day rolling sample conducted among a random population of 500 likely Democratic primary voters on Friday and Saturday.