Spectators listen as former Vice President Joe Biden campaigns Monday in Pittsburgh. He announced his 2020 presidential bid last Thursday. | Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo 2020 Elections Poll: Biden gets 6-point launch bounce

Call it the Biden Bump.

Already the front-runner in early polls, Joe Biden is getting a significant bounce out of his campaign rollout, according to Morning Consult’s weekly tracking poll of the Democratic presidential race.


Biden, who announced his bid Thursday and held his first rally Monday in Pittsburgh, is now the first choice of more than a third of those who plan to participate in their state’s Democratic primary or caucus, with 36 percent of Democratic voters saying they prefer the former vice president to be the party’s nominee to take on President Donald Trump next year. That is a 6-point increase from last week, when Biden led the pack with 30 percent.

The poll was conducted April 22-28, surveying 15,475 voters who plan to vote in a Democratic primary or caucus. The margin of error is 1 percentage point.

Biden’s minisurge gives him a 14-point lead over the second-place candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is at 22 percent.

The two septuagenarians are the only candidates in double figures in the poll, though the next tier is crowded. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is third, at 9 percent, followed closely by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 8 percent. Sen. Kamala Harris of California is at 7 percent, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas is at 5 percent.

Trailing the main contenders are Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey at 3 percent and two candidates at 2 percent: Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Eight candidates are tied at 1 percent: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

While Biden has a sizable lead over Sanders, there are revealing cleavages among Democrats, especially along racial lines and by age.

Biden’s lead among white voters, 34 percent to 26 percent, is smaller than his overall advantage. But the former vice president has a more commanding advantage with black voters, 44 percent to 20 percent; Harris is at 10 percent. Among Hispanic voters, Biden leads Sanders by a slim margin, 30 percent to 27 percent.

Sanders is a year older than Biden, but the Vermont senator is the favorite of younger voters. His lead over Biden among voters under 30: 36 percent to 23 percent.

But Biden has the support of nearly half of those 65 and older, with 48 percent. Sanders struggles among these older voters, with just 10 percent, a point behind Buttigieg.

Biden leads Sanders by 9 points among men, 33 percent to 24 percent. But he has an 18-point lead among women, 38 percent to 20 percent.

Since Morning Consult began tracking the Democratic race in January, Biden has been the leader each week. But the latest survey represents a new high-water mark for Biden, who has dropped as low as 29 percent.

Biden’s 6-point bounce ties Sanders’ for the largest bump Morning Consult has measured around a candidate’s announcement. Immediately after Sanders launched his campaign, he also vaulted 6 points in late February — and trailed Biden only narrowly, 29 percent to 27 percent.