Sen. Bernie Sanders jumped out to a double-digit lead over his 2020 Democratic presidential rivals in a poll of likely New Hampshire primary voters released Thursday—less than three weeks ahead of the state’s Feb. 11 primary.
“Bernie Sanders might be peaking at just the right time,” wrote Anthony Brooks of Boston NPR affiliate WBUR, which sponsored the new poll. According to the survey, Sanders has the support of 29% of likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters, a 14-point jump since December 2019.
Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg polled in a distant second place at 17% support. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) placed third and fourth with 14% and 13% support, respectively.
Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group that conducted the survey, told WBUR that Sanders’ presidential campaign shouldn’t “take these numbers to the bank.”
“But you’ve got to be feeling pretty good about where you stand right at this moment if you’re the Sanders campaign,” Koczela added.
The poll results are based on a survey of 426 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters between January 17-21. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 4.8 percentage points.
The New Hampshire poll came just a day after Sanders took the lead nationally for the first time in CNN’s Democratic primary survey, besting Biden by three percentage points.
Krystal Ball, co-host of HillTV‘s “Rising,” said the two strong polls for Sanders could spark an “establishment meltdown.”
Mehdi Hasan, a columnist for The Intercept, echoed Ball.
“That sound you hear? The Democratic establishment and centrist media types screaming in shock and anguish,” tweeted Hasan. “Prepare for a barrage of negative attacks on Bernie in the coming days. A barrage.”