A new survey finds that 2020 Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders now has a commanding lead in California, outpolling former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the other top two contenders.
In a statewide survey conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies for the Los Angeles Times, Sanders received 26 percent of support among likely voters in the state’s primary election that is scheduled for March 3.
Meanwhile, Warren placed second with 20 percent support, which is a decline of about two percent since November, and a nine-percent drop from 29 percent back in September.
Though Biden is still considered the frontrunner nationally, he gets only 15 percent support among Democrats in the Golden State.
The poll found former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg in fourth place with 7 percent support, while former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ranks fifth at 6 percent.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is in sixth with 5 percent, and technology entrepreneur Andrew Yang in seventh place at 4 percent.
Longtime Californian and billionaire Tom Steyer has only about 2 percent support.
“California’s primary electorate is relatively liberal,” Eric Schickler, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, said. “The state is more conducive to one of the candidates on the left.”
The LA Times reported that Sanders, Warren and Biden are the only Democratic contenders with enough support to actually win the state.
“California’s March 3 primary will allocate 416 of the state’s 495 convention delegates, by far the largest group from any state,” the paper reported. “The rest are elected officials and others who attend as unpledged so-called super-delegates.”