Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to formally enter the 2020 presidential race, leads a crowded field in the minds of California Democratic voters, most of whom don’t consider Biden’s past conduct with women to be a serious issue, according to a poll released Wednesday, April 10.

The Quinnipiac University Poll also found a majority of Californians in favor of improving, not replacing, the U.S. health care system and giving low marks to President Donald Trump’s overall job performance.

When asked about preferences in the Democratic presidential field, 26% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters from California polled like Biden, followed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 18% and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif, at 17%.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg tied for fourth at 7% each. Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke polled at 4% while no other Democratic presidential hopeful polled better than 2 percent.

Biden also ranked highest in terms of who Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters thought would make the best leader, and who among the crowded Democratic field has the best chance of beating Trump in 2020. A plurality of voters ranked Sanders first when it came to which candidate had the best policy ideas.

By a margin of 50% to 39%, all voters polled said being a great leader was more important than having great policy ideas.

Biden, 76, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for his history of publicly embracing and touching women. Several women, including a former Nevada assemblywoman, said Biden’s contact made them feel uncomfortable.

In an online video, Biden promised to be more respectful of personal boundaries – “I get it,” he said – but stopped short of apologizing for past behavior.

Overall, 60% of those polled by Quinnipiac, including 67% of women and 71% of Democrats, said Biden’s past incidental touching of women was not a serious issue. Conversely, 27% of all respondents, including 26% of women, 37% of Republicans and 24% of Democrats, consider it to be a serious matter.

“‘Let Biden be Biden,’ say California voters, clearly unconcerned about former Vice President Joe Biden’s tactile embrace of supporters,” said Tim Malloy, the poll’s assistant director. “But there is one noticeable generational split. The youngest of voters are far more inclined to say ‘hands off.’”

California voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance by a wide margin — 64% to 30% — one of the president’s worst grades in any state or national poll conducted by Quinnipiac since he was elected.

Of those polled, 59% said they would definitely not vote for Trump if he is the 2020 GOP nominee. Overall, 21%, including 71% of Republican voters, said they would definitely vote for him.

Health care

The poll also found that Californians want to retool, not throw out, federal health care. Overall, 55% of those polled, including 68% of Democrats and 58% of independent voters, said the U.S. health care system should be improved, while 34% think it should be replaced. Exactly half of Republican voters want to replace the system compared to 34% who want it improved.

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Opinion: Christians must fight Trump attempt to monopolize faith “Voters say the country’s current health care program needs some tweaking, but is certainly worth keeping,” Malloy said.

Replacing the current system with a single-payer model was supported by 47% of California voters, with 40% saying single-payer is a bad idea. Six out of ten of those polled, including 44% of Republicans, 61% of independents and 67% of Democrats, favor keeping the current system but allowing all adults to buy into Medicare.

The telephone poll of 1,005 California voters conducted April 3 through 8 has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The survey included 482 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.9 percentage points.