For the first time in the 2020 Democratic primary race, Joe Biden’s lead appears to be collapsing.
The Hill reports that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has surpassed former Vice President Joe Biden in a recent poll of Iowa voters.
Could this be the beginning of the end for Sleepy Joe?
Falling fast
The Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll, which was conducted Sept. 14–18 and released Saturday, showed that Warren is sitting at 22% support among likely caucusgoers, while Biden has just 20% support.
The poll further found that 42% of likely voters consider Warren to be their first or second choice, while 30% had Biden in their top two, according to the Register.
Behind Biden and Warren are Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), who polled at 11%; South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 9% support; and California Sen. Kamala Harris, who saw 6% support. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Cory Booker (NJ) followed at 3%.
The poll’s margin of error “is plus or minus 4 percentage points,” according to the Register.
A major shakeup
Biden’s slip in the polls was likely welcome news to the former VP’s competitors, who largely have been unable to overtake him, particularly in a key state like Iowa. In virtually every poll that has been conducted since Biden entered the race in March, including others by the Register, Biden has been No. 1, according to Politico.
But Warren has also been making steady progress in the state: she went from having 8% support in December 2018 — before she formally entered the race — to 9% in March. That soared to 15% in June, and now, she’s taken the lead at 22%.
She has also been gaining on Biden outside of Iowa, though Biden remains the front-runner for now.
J. Ann Selzer, the president of the company that conducted the recent Iowa poll, remarked that this is the race’s “first major shakeup.”
“It’s the first time we’ve had someone other than Joe Biden at the top of the leader board,” he said. But will it be the last? Only time will tell.
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