A new poll released Thursday has
presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South
Bend, Indiana, in third place behind former Vice President Joe Biden
and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Biden, who has yet to announce he's
running for the White House, leads the 2020 Democratic presidential
field in Iowa.
The Monmouth University poll shows
Biden the choice of 27 percent of likely caucusgoers in Iowa. Sanders
has 16 percent and Buttigieg has 9.
A CNN/Des Moines Register survey
conducted a month ago had Buttigieg at just 1 percent.
(Related: At
Victory Fund brunch, Pete Buttigieg says he would have done anything
not to be gay.)
“Buttigieg’s current standing in
the horse race is impressive given that nearly half of likely
Democratic caucusgoers have yet to form an opinion of him,” Patrick
Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute,
said in a statement. “He has one of the best positive to negative
ratios in the field. He could move up if he is able to maintain that
rating as he introduces himself to more voters.”
Another recent survey by Emerson
Polling also had Buttigieg in third, behind Biden and Sanders.
According to a POLITICO analysis, 15
candidates have qualified for the first Democratic debate, including
Buttigieg.
Conducted April 4-9, the Monmouth poll
surveyed 354 likely Democratic caucusgoers and has a margin of error
of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points.
Buttigieg is expected to formally
announce his campaign on Sunday.