Poll: Buttigieg surges into contention with Biden, Sanders

South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surged into the top tier of candidates in the Democratic presidential primary, according to a new poll.

The online survey from Change Research, a left-leaning polling outlet, finds former Vice President Joe Biden at 21 percent support, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 20 percent and Buttigieg at 17 percent.

That’s a 15-point gain for Buttigieg in the past month, according to the poll, while Biden has fallen by 15 points and Sanders shed 4 points in the same survey.{mosads}

Still, the Change Research poll finds Buttigieg polling much higher than other surveys. He is at 9 percent in an Emerson College survey and 7 percent in a Morning Consult poll, both released this week. 

Buttigieg was relatively unknown nationally before a CNN town hall event last month caught the attention of Washington insiders and spurred growing buzz surrounding the 37-year-old Midwest mayor.

In the past few weeks, Buttigieg has become a media sensation and a serious contender, raising $7 million in the first quarter and landing several coveted donors who previously raised millions of dollars for the Obama-Biden ticket.

No other candidate is polling in double-digits in the Change Research survey beyond Biden, Sanders and Buttigieg.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke is at 9 percent, followed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.), at 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

The Change Research poll of 2,518 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted April 12-15 and has a 2.2 percentage point margin of error.