Poll: Biden holds 12-point lead over Sanders, Warren third

Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 12-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), his closest contender, in the Democratic presidential primary, according to a new poll released Monday. 

Biden received 32 percent of the vote among Democratic primary voters surveyed, leading the shrinking Democratic field, according to a Morning Consult poll. 

{mosads}Sanders finished second in the poll with 20 percent.

Warren is a close third at 18 percent. The poll falls in line with most others released in the last few weeks showing those three as the clear front-runners in the bid to take on President Trump. 

The three top candidates are the only Democrats in the field that polled in double digits. 

They’re also the only candidates to break into double digits among support in early primary states, according to the poll. 

Biden’s lead over Sanders widens to 13 points, with Biden at 34 percent and Sanders at 21 percent, among voters in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. 

Sanders’s lead over Warren jumps to 8 points, with Warren polling at 13 percent in those early states, according to the Morning Consult poll. 

The Morning Consult Poll surveyed 7,487 registered voters who indicate they may vote in the Democratic primary or caucus in their state. The interviews were collected Sept. 13-15. There is a margin of error of 1 percentage point. 

The early voter survey consisted of 341 voters across the four states and has a margin of error of 5 percentage points.