Elizabeth Warren opens up 21-point lead over Bernie Sanders in MoveOn straw poll


Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) plans are starting to pay off.
Just a day ahead of her headlining spot in the first Democratic debate, Warren topped a primary poll of members of the progressive group MoveOn, released Tuesday. She earned 37.8 percent support among MoveOn members, putting her 21 points above the second-place challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), NBC News reports.
With Sanders in the pool, Warren's rise is a bit surprising. The progressive MoveOn members chose Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and he came in third behind "undecided" and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke in a 2020 poll conducted in December. Now, just two percent of MoveOn members say they're undecided on their first choice for a Democratic contender.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While the MoveOn poll is bad news for Sanders, it's even worse for former Vice President Joe Biden. He got 14.9 percent support from MoveOn members — a far cry from his usual top billing. He'll face off against Sanders on Thursday night's NBC debate of 10 Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, Warren will be the undisputed leader in her Wednesday night appearance, with O'Rourke her closest competitor.
The online poll was emailed to MoveOn members, who responded from June 17 to 21. No margin of error was reported.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Musk's latest Grok AI controversy and what it reveals about chatbots
In the Spotlight The spread of misinformation serves as a reminder of how imperfect chatbots really are
-
Get a taste of a place at these regional US restaurant chains
The Week Recommends Eat where the locals do
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer
speed read The diagnosis hits close to home, as the former president 'dedicated much of his later career to cancer research'
-
Supreme Court weighs court limits amid birthright ban
speed read President Trump's bid to abolish birthright citizenship has sparked questions among federal judges about blocking administration policies
-
Gabbard fires intelligence chiefs after Venezuela report
speed read Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two officials leading the National Intelligence Council
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government