Sanders scores 32% of Democratic voters in new poll

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders continues to cement his position as the Democratic presidential front-runner, registering a sizable lead over rivals in a new national poll by The Washington Post/ABC News.

Sanders garnered 32% support in the survey of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, a nine percentage-point boost from the outlets’ January poll and after strong performances in state contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Competition was stronger for second place, with Joe Biden at 16%, Michael Bloomberg at 14% and Elizabeth Warren at 12% in the survey.

The Post/ABC News poll, conducted Feb. 14-17, had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.

Sanders’a lead tracks with the 31% support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters that the Vermont senator posted in a NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll released Tuesday. Sanders garnered 27% in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News national poll also released Tuesday.

The Post-ABC poll found 30% of Democratic-leaning voters choosing Sanders as the most electable against President Donald Trump. Sanders was the top choice of 50% of voters under age 50.

Biden registered the steepest drop in support, falling 16 percentage points compared to his performance in the January poll. Support for Bloomberg, who appears on the presidential debate stage for the first time Wednesday night, increased 6 percentage points since January.

(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

Warren garnered 12% support in the poll, registering no change since January.