Elizabeth Warren tops Democratic candidates in national poll for first time

Elizabeth Warren’s surge to the very top of the Democratic primary field is continuing, after the Massachusetts senator topped a national poll for the first time on Wednesday.

A survey by Quinnipiac found Warren polling at 27% among Democrats and Democratic leaning voters, with Joe Biden on 25%. Bernie Sanders, previously seen as part of a top three of Democratic presidential candidates, had 16%.

With margin of error factored in Warren is essentially tied with Biden, but the poll represents a major boost, coming after a slew of recent surveys in recent days found her leading or tied in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

The Quinnipiac poll contained bad news for the California senator Kamala Harris, who was at just 3%, and the New Jersey senator Cory Booker, who was the choice of 0% of Democratic leaning voters. South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg was at 7%.

On Sunday a survey of likely Iowa caucusgoers, carried out by the Des Moines Register, Mediacom and CNN, put Warren at 22% in the state, with Biden at 20%. Sanders had the support of just 11% of respondents, with Buttigieg on 9%.

Two polls released on Tuesday showed Warren also surging in New Hampshire and Nevada. The New Hampshire survey, carried out by Monmouth University, found Warren at 27% in the Granite state, to Biden’s 25%. The margin of error was 4.9%. That survey was a particular blow to Sanders, who was at just 11%, despite winning the New Hampshire primary with 61% of the vote in 2016.

A Suffolk University/USA Today/Reno Gazette-Journal poll in Nevada found Biden at 23% and Warren at 19%.

The release of the Quinnipiac survey comes after Warren announced that she will spend at least $10m on advertising in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina – the first four states to vote in the Democratic primary.

Warren’s national support has increased dramatically since Quinnipiac’s August poll. In that survey Biden had 32% support, with Warren at 19%.