National polls for the Democratic primaries have so far aimed at voter preferences among a dozen or more candidates. A new poll aims to answer the question of who would give the strongest challenge to Biden, the main candidate of the centrist wing.
A poll taken last week by Echelon insights has the following results, if the race comes down to two candidates, Biden and someone else:
Biden 48% : Warren 43% (+5%)
Biden 54% : Sanders 38% (+16%)
Biden 56% : Buttigieg 32% (+24%)
Older results in December showed a wide gap between Biden and these three others (+30%, +26%, +45%, respectively). All three have narrowed it, but Warren is the only one who comes close to bettering Biden in a two-way match.
It remains to be seen how the race will shape up as more candidates drop out. For now, this poll shows that Warren, despite her recent fading in the multi-candidate polls, is currently the favored progressive candidate to win against Biden in a two-way race.