A new survey by Democratic pollsters showed both Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of former President Trump, with President Biden slightly behind.
According to the latest poll from Bendixen & Amandi, a major Democratic polling firm, Harris is leading Trump by one point, 42% to 41%, with 5% of voters choosing a third-party candidate and 12% undecided.
Meanwhile, Biden trailed the former president by one point, 42% to 43%, according to a poll obtained by The Hill newspaper on Tuesday. Five% of voters said they would choose a third-party candidate, and 10% said they were undecided.
The poll’s findings are the latest sign of concern for Biden, who is facing growing pressure from within his party to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race after his disastrous debate defeat last month.
Biden has maintained he intends to continue in the race, and on Monday in a letter to Democratic lawmakers he again rejected calls to drop out and urged them to support his candidacy.
Harris’ name has been repeatedly floated as a possible successor to Biden if he were to drop out of the race, but last week she made it clear she supported Biden seeking a second term.
Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election, beat the former president by two percentage points, but 6% voted for a third-party candidate and 10% were undecided, according to Bendixen & Amandi.
Other Democrats who have been mentioned as possible candidates to replace Biden have fared worse than Trump in hypothetical matchups, according to the poll: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is four points behind Trump (36 percent to 40 percent), and California Gov. Gavin Newsom is three points behind (37 percent to 40 percent).
In those two showdown scenarios, more voters were undecided: 17 percent for Whitmer and 15 percent for Newsom.
Of the 1,000 voters surveyed, 86% said they watched the debate in some form, either in person or afterward by watching clips. More than half (61%) believe Biden does not have the mental or physical ability to serve another four years, while 29% say he does, and 10% don’t know or didn’t answer.
Fifty-two percent said Biden should not seek reelection, 33% said he should, and 15% didn’t know or didn’t answer.
The nationwide survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted July 2-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Fernand Amandi, president of Bendixen & Amandi International, is a Democratic pollster. Create a Spanish ad He advised Clinton during the 2008 primaries, and his firm advised former President Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns.
