Sen. Elizabeth Warren holds an 8-point lead in Iowa over Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, according to a poll released on Thursday that showed Mr. Buttigieg picking up steam and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden slipping to fourth place among the 2020 Democratic presidential contenders.

Ms. Warren of Massachusetts was the top choice of 28% of likely Democratic caucus-goers, followed by Mr. Buttigieg at 20%, Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont at 18%, and Mr. Biden at 12%, according to the Iowa State University/Civiqs poll.

Last month, Ms. Warren had been in the lead at 24%, followed by Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders at 16% apiece, and Mr. Buttigieg at 13%.

In the poll released on Thursday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota was in fifth place at 4%, followed by Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California and billionaire activist Tom Steyer at 3% apiece. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and entrepreneur Andrew Yang were next at 2% apiece.

Mr. Biden also led the way when respondents were asked an open-ended question on any Democratic candidate they did not want to see become the nominee. Mr. Sanders was next on that front, followed by Ms. Gabbard.

Dave Peterson, an ISU political science professor who organized the poll, said some of Mr. Buttigieg’s momentum is tied to retail politicking.

“Buttigieg is incredibly well organized and is spending a lot of resources in Iowa,” Mr. Peterson said. “His presence at the Iowa Steak Fry last month was better than any other candidate.”

The online survey of 598 likely caucus-goers was taken from Oct. 18-22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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