Allegations that former Vice President Joe Biden has made women uncomfortable with unwanted touching haven’t hurt his presidential prospects in California, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University.

Biden hasn’t announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge President Trump in 2020, but California Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have him as their top choice in the March primary with 26% support, the poll indicates.

He is trailed by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 18% and California Sen. Kamala Harris at 17%. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind., are tied at 7% each, with none of the many other Democratic hopefuls topping 4%.

Those numbers don’t differ dramatically from a national poll done by Quinnipiac in late March, which found Biden at 29%, Sanders at 19%, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke at 12% and Harris at 8%.

The biggest news for the 76-year-old Biden, however, is that he apparently hasn’t taken a political hit from complaints from women who say his propensity to hug and touch them in public settings, while not sexual, has long made them uncomfortable.

The complaints “appear not to have hurt him at all in California,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll. “California voters have known Biden for decades and aren’t troubled by the accusations.”

Among all voters surveyed in California, nearly two-thirds say the issue of Biden touching women is not a serious one. That includes 67% of women surveyed and 71% of Democrats. While voters ages 18 to 34 have the most concerns, even 52 percent of that group say the touching is not a major problem.

Nearly three-quarters of voters 50 and older, who traditionally are the most likely to cast ballots, say Biden’s old-school political manner is not much to worry about.

“This is a new question that we haven’t asked in any of our polls before,” Malloy said.

There are still plenty of concerns about the issue among Democratic insiders, who worry both that the complaints could dog Biden throughout his anticipated campaign and that the former Delaware senator isn’t taking the political danger seriously enough.

Biden’s lead in the state boils down to a few important factors, Malloy said.

First, 31% of Democrats say Biden would be the best leader, compared with 18% for Sanders and 13% for Harris. Second, 35% of that group pick Biden as the person with the best chance to beat Trump, with 17% saying it’s Sanders and 9% choosing Harris.

Sanders gets the nod as the candidate with the best policy ideas at 23%, followed by Biden and Warren at 13% and Harris at 11%. But when asked whether leadership or policy was more important, 48% of Democratic voters picked leadership versus 42% who pointed to policy.

A February Quinnipiac poll found that 60% of California Democratic voters would be excited to see Biden in the presidential race, compared with 58% for Harris and 44% for Sanders and Warren.

The latest poll contained some bad news for Buttigieg, who is gay. Nearly half the California voters surveyed say the country isn’t ready to elect a gay man as president. Democrats split 49% to 43% in favor of a gay candidacy, while strong majorities of Republicans and independents disagree.

Even in the Bay Area, the historical center of the gay rights and same-sex marriage movements, 54% of respondents say it isn’t time for a gay president.

“It’s early yet, but this shows that (the primary race) will be an uphill climb for Buttigieg, more so than he thought,” Malloy said.

While voters may be divided on which Democrat should challenge Trump, those surveyed overwhelmingly back a Democrat, any Democrat, against the president.

Fifty-nine percent of all California voters, including 97% of Democrats and 74% of Bay Area residents, say they will definitely not vote for Trump in 2020. Voters also disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president by a 64%-30% margin. That’s the worst grade for Trump in any Quinnipiac state or national poll, Malloy said.

The poll is based on a telephone survey of 1,005 California voters, including 482 Democrats and Democratic-leaners, that was taken April 3-8. The survey of all voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points, while the Democratic subset has a 5.9 percentage point margin of error.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth