For a guy “nobody likes,” Bernie Sanders just shot to the top of a national CNN survey out Wednesday. With less than two weeks until the Iowa caucus, 27% of Democratic or Democratic-leaning voters prefer Sanders, according to the poll, with 24% backing Joe Biden, putting the pair double-digits ahead of their closest competitors, Elizabeth Warren (14%) and Pete Buttigieg (11%). The poll falls within CNN’s margin of error, meaning there’s not necessarily a clear frontrunner. But a seven-point surge since CNN’s December poll is welcome news for Sanders, reflecting the momentum he’s built up in recent months and suggesting that recent dustups with rivals haven’t tripped him up.

“Apparently SOMEBODY likes him!” Democratic strategist and former Obama adviser David Axelrod quipped Wednesday, referring to Hillary Clinton’s controversial comments about her 2016 primary opponent.

A few months back, Sanders’s prospects appeared to be dimming. Warren seemed to have the upper hand, and the Vermont senator was sidelined by an October heart attack. But Sanders surged after returning to the campaign trail, drawing coveted endorsements, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as renewed scrutiny, which culminated in a brief but tense feud with Warren. As Sanders surrogates took aim at Warren, she said her fellow progressive had privately told her a woman couldn’t win the presidency in 2020—an allegation Sanders denied, leading to a post-debate confrontation. “I think you called me a liar on national TV,” Warren told Sanders as other candidates shook hands, in front of a visibly uncomfortable Tom Steyer. The two made a public showing of peace at a South Carolina march Monday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., but the episode may continue to be a point of contention among their supporters.

Per CNN’s poll, however, the bitter turn in the race hasn’t seemed to slow Sanders down. He’s continued to pull away from Warren, maintaining the same level of enthusiasm he generated in the fall as rivals have stumbled or dropped out, and—perhaps most significantly—closing the gap with Biden with voters of color, something that had been seen as a potential liability for him.

As New York’s Eric Levitz pointed out Wednesday, there are some major caveats. For one, CNN’s numbers don’t exactly track with those of other polls. A RealClearPolitics average shows Biden continuing to enjoy a somewhat healthy lead over Sanders, 28% to 21.9%. A strong showing in Iowa or New Hampshire by, say, Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar, with whom Warren split a high-profile New York Times endorsement this week—or a landscape-altering gaffe by one of the candidates—could still make a big difference.

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