California Sen. Kamala Harris surged to third place in a new Morning Consult poll after the first Democratic debates last week.
Harris’ support rose to 12% following the debate, up from 6% in the same poll conducted between June 17-23. Harris rose past South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg into a virtual tie with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for first place.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden, who was on the receiving end of Harris’ comments about his past record on busing, saw his support fall from 38% to 33% after the debate.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders remained in second place with 19% before and after the debate while Buttigieg, who had a strong night by all accounts, fell slightly from 7% to 6%.
Another poll shows Harris bump:
Another poll from HarrisX/Scott Rasmussen similarly found Harris rising from 6% to 11% after the debate.
That poll did not find such a large dip for Biden, who went from 29% to 28%, but did find Sanders dropping from 17% to 14% and Warren dropping from 9% to 8%. Buttigieg failed to reach 5%.
Biden plummets on “electability” poll:
Biden’s worst post-debate numbers came in a HuffPost/YouGov poll that asked Democrats about which candidate is most electable.
Biden, who had been by far considered the most electable, with 70% of voters saying he was most capable of beating Trump in the election, slid to just 57% following the debate.
On the other hand, Harris’ “electability” rose from 39% to 49% while Warren’s rose from 40% to 51%. Sanders stayed roughly the same at 46%.
No other candidate was considered the most electable by more than 30% of Democratic voters, though Julian Castro got a big bump from 9% to 21% while Beto O’Rourke slid from 30% to 18%.
