Beto O'Rourke and Joe Biden's support among progressive activists at Democracy for America has fallen steeply, according to a poll. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo 2020 elections Biden, Beto falter in new progressive straw poll

Bernie Sanders has solidified his front-runner standing among members of the progressive political action committee Democracy for America, while Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke have both fallen back sharply, according to the group’s latest straw poll.

Elizabeth Warren is now running second to Sanders in the DFA poll — though she trails the independent senator from Vermont by more than 30 percentage points, according to the survey released Tuesday and obtained first by POLITICO.


The straw poll, which is significant more as an indicator of activist support than a measure of public opinion, reflects the durability of support for Sanders and a shift in some left-flank enthusiasm for two rivals: O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman, and Biden, the former vice president who is expected to announce his 2020 presidential campaign soon.

In DFA’s first 2020 straw poll, in December, Biden was running second to Sanders at 15 percent, followed by O’Rourke at 12 percent. By this month, Biden’s support had fallen to about 8 percent, while O’Rourke slid to about 3 percent.

Meanwhile, Sanders drew 42 percent support, up about 6 percentage points from December. Warren saw support for her candidacy tick up to about 11 percent, according to the poll, followed by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at about 10 percent.

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DFA said Buttigieg likely benefitted most from waning support for O’Rourke. Among members who participated in both the DFA’s December and April polls, about 23 percent of O’Rourke’s supporters shifted their support to Buttigieg, with another 16 percent moving to Sanders and about 12 percent shifting to Warren.

“While these new poll results show Bernie Sanders retaining and even strengthening his support among progressives, the big shifts in support for the broad field of candidate we’ve seen over the last three months make it clear that Democracy for America members are very open to changing their minds, discovering new candidates, and reevaluating potential nominees based on the campaign they run in the months ahead,” Democracy for America Chairman Charles Chamberlain said in a prepared statement.

DFA boasts more than 1 million members, and the group was instrumental in Sanders’ unsuccessful run for president in 2016. But its membership also has strong ties to Warren, the senator from Massachusetts. Founded by Howard Dean following his run for president in 2004, DFA helped organize an aggressive, ultimately unsuccessful effort to draft Warren into the 2016 presidential campaign.

Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg and Biden were followed in the latest straw poll by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), at about 7 percent support. Former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska was just behind Harris, at about 6 percent.

DFA said members cast 94,641 votes in the poll, which ran April 1 through April 19. DFA is expected to run additional straw polls before any endorsement. The next poll will likely come after the first presidential debate this summer.