The New Hampshire survey found former Vice President Joe Biden with a five-point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, | John Locher/AP Photo 2020 Elections Poll: Biden maintains lead over Sanders in New Hampshire

Former Vice President Joe Biden is holding on to his front-runner status in New Hampshire after a second round of presidential primary debates in Detroit last week, according to a poll out Tuesday.

The Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of likely Democratic voters is one of the first to come out since last week’s debate, and it lands as candidates close in on the six-month mark until New Hampshire's primary, set to be the second contest in the race for the Democratic nomination.


The New Hampshire survey found Biden with a 5-point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with 21 percent support from those in the poll compared with Sanders’ 17 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren rounds out the top three with 14 percent. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, candidates who have both surged into the upper tier of the race at several points over the past few months, come in at fourth and fifth place with 8 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard came in sixth in the survey, pulling in 3 percent of support, while 19 other candidates polled at 2 percent or less.

While the poll found steady support for Biden relative to an April survey conducted in the state among general election voters, Tuesday’s poll also offered evidence that it is still possible to shake things up in the race. About a fifth of Democratic primary voters said they are still undecided, and 58 percent said that their vote could change in the next six months before the primary.

Asked who would be voters' second choice in the primary, Warren leads with 21 percent, while Biden and Sanders are tied at 13 percent.

The survey was conducted among 500 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters from Aug. 1-4 using live telephone interviews of households in which respondents indicated they intended to participate in the state's Democratic primary in February. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Tuesday’s poll does not count toward the qualification process for the primary debates to be held next month.

