Biden maintains national lead after December debate: poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden maintained his national lead in the polls after the December debate, according to a poll released Monday.

The Morning Consult poll for this week showed Biden with 31 percent support for the second week in a row, after rising 2 percentage points since the beginning of December. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ranked as the runner-up with 21 percent support.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg kept third and fourth place with 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Following them, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg earned 6 percent support, entrepreneur Andrew Yang got 5 percent, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and philanthropist Tom Steyer each received 3 percent. 

Yang, Klobuchar and Steyer all saw increases in favorability following the Democratic debate, but the front-runners stood their ground. Sanders and Biden have the highest favorability with 74 percent and 71 percent, respectively.

The poll conducted between Dec. 20 and Dec. 22 surveyed 7,178 registered voters who plan to vote in the Democratic primary or caucus in their state. The margin of error is 1 percentage point.