Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren leapfrog Bernie Sanders in 1st major post-debates poll


The first major poll after last week's inaugural 2020 Democratic presidential debates confirms the conventional wisdom: They were great for Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and bad for former Vice President Joe Biden. The CNN/SSRS poll released Monday evening showed Biden as the top pick of 22 percent of Democrats, down 10 percentage points from CNN's last poll in May; Harris jumped 9 points to 17 percent, and Warren got an 8-point bump, to 15 percent. Previous runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) dropped 4 points to 14 percent and fourth place.
All other candidates are in the single digits. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Texas) lost 2 points, coming in at 3 percent support, while South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped 1 point, to 4 percent. "For those keeping score at home, that's the field's women up 17 points and its men down 17 points," notes Aaron Blake at The Washington Post.
Biden's strongest support in the poll was among black voters (36 percent) and older voters (34 percent), though the one issue Harris beats him on is handling race relations (she got 29 percent to Biden's second-pace 16 percent). A solid 43 percent of Democrats still think Biden is best positioned to beat President Trump, followed by Sanders (13 percent) and Warren and Harris (12 percent). Among all Americans, 56 percent favored a national health insurance plan, even if it raises taxes (85 percent of Democrats agreed), though only 21 percent of Americans favored a national health insurance plan that eliminated private insurance.
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.
SSRS conducted the poll by phone June 28-30, reaching 1,613 adults. The full sample has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points; the subsample of 656 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents has a margin of error of ±4.7 points.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump uses tariffs to upend Brazil's domestic politics
IN THE SPOTLIGHT By slapping a 50% tariff on Brazil for its criminal investigation into Bolsonaro, the Trump administration is brazenly putting its fingers on the scales of a key foreign election
-
3 questions to ask when deciding whether to repair or replace your broken appliance
the explainer There may be merit to fixing what you already have, but sometimes buying new is even more cost-effective
-
'Trump's authoritarian manipulation of language'
Instant Opinion Vienna has become a 'convenient target for populists' | Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling