The battle to win the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary is heating up. A new poll released Tuesday shows Granite State Democrats favoring former Vice President Joe Biden by a slim margin, with U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren close behind.
The University of New Hampshire poll shows Biden leading the field with 24 percent support, an improvement from the 18 percent support he received in UNH’s April poll.
A whopping 45 percent of Democrats polled believe Biden to be the best chance Democrats have at beating President Trump in a general election. However, the former vice president is also the most polarizing candidate: 14 percent said they would not vote for him under any circumstances.
Sens. Sanders and Warren tied for second with 19 percent support apiece. Both of their performances represent a significant change in support from the April UNH poll. Sanders fell sharply from being in the lead with 30 percent support and Warren surged from her 5 percent support.
Sanders and Warren are tied for first when it comes to favorability. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they were favorable toward the two senators.
Rounding out the top five, Pete Buttigieg received 10 percent support and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris received 9 percent support. That’s a 5 percent drop off for Buttigieg and a 5 percent climb for Harris since the UNH poll in April.
Harris won the first round of Democratic debates, according to those polled. Thirty-six percent said Harris had the best performance in June.
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The UNH poll contradicts a recent St. Anselm College poll that had Sanders falling below 10 percent and Harris at 17 percent support.
The poll also surveyed New Hampshire Republicans. It shows that Republicans in the state overwhelmingly support President Trump. 84 percent of Republicans said they favored the president and 86 percent said they would vote for him in the primary.
The University of New Hampshire Survey Center conducted the poll in conjunction with CNN. Nearly 400 likely Democratic primary voters and almost 300 likely Republican primary voters were surveyed between July 8 and July 15.
