Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin US Senator and Elizabeth Warren, the Senator from Massachusetts have made steep gains after the first Democratic presidential debate, according to a new opinion poll.
The results of the CNN poll conducted by SSRS indicate a significant tightening in the race among a pack of 23 candidates vying for the Democratic Party nomination. The winner will take on President Donald Trump, a Republican in the November, 2020 presidential election.
A rising Democratic Party star and vocal critic of Trump, 54-year-old Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and woman of colour to be the President of the United States.
The Indian-origin Senator, whose mother was born in Tamil Nadu and father was an African-American from Jamaica, in January launched her campaign for the presidential election.
The opinion poll, conducted after the two-night debate last week, found that former US Vice President Joe Biden's lead over the crowded field has shrunk to a narrow 5 points.
The poll found that 22 per cent of registered voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents backing Biden, 76, for the party's presidential nomination, 17 per cent Harris, 15 per cent Warren and 14 per cent Senator Bernie Sanders.
That represents a 10-point decline in support for Biden since the last CNN poll in May, while Harris, the Senator from California, has posted a 9-point increase, and Warren, 70, of Massachusetts, has boosted her support by 8 points. No other candidates have seen significant movement since the last poll.
Harris' numbers follow a strong showing on the second night of the debates. Among those who watched or followed news coverage about them, 41 per cent say Harris did the best job in the debates, well ahead of the 13 per cent who say Warren had the best performance and 10 per cent who said Biden did.
Among those who say they watched all or most of at least one night of debates, Harris' showing is even stronger: 46 per cent say she did the best job, 19 per cent Warren, 8 per cent Biden and 5 per cent each named South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, CNN reported.
And 30 per cent of potential Democratic voters now say Harris is the candidate they most want to hear more about, up from 23 per cent who said the same in April. That figure does not include those who say she is their top choice for nominee, the report said.
Warren was the lone polling heavyweight on the stage in the first night of the Democratic debates on Wednesday.
On Thursday night, Harris and Biden shared the debate stage and faced off in one of the most memorable moments of either night.
Harris asked Biden directly about his opposition to federally mandated busing as a means to integrate public schools in the 1970s, and about his comments on working with segregationist politicians during his time in the Senate. The move appears to have worked in her favour, the report said.
Harris and Biden are now about even in support among self-identified Democrats, white voters, younger voters, nonwhite women and those who tuned in to watch the debates.
Harris outpaced him significantly among liberals and whites with college degrees. Warren challenges Biden and Sanders among independents, tops Biden and runs even with Harris and Sanders among liberals, and earns similar numbers to Harris among younger voters, whites and whites with college degrees, the report said.
Biden's strongest support continues to come among black voters (36 per cent back Biden, 24 per cent Harris, 12 per cent Warren and 9 per cent Sanders) and older voters (34 per cent of seniors back Biden vs. 14 per cent for Harris, 12 per cent for Warren and just 7 per cent for Sanders).
He also tops 30 per cent among more moderate and conservative Democratic voters (31 per cent back him versus 11 per cent Harris, 10 per cent Warren and 8 per cent Sanders).
Biden tops the rest of the field by a wide margin as the candidate potential Democratic voters see as having the best shot to beat President Trump.
Overall, 43 per cent of potential Democratic voters say Biden has the best chance to beat Trump in 2020, which was 30 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Sanders, 77.
Further, 6 in 10 potential Democratic voters say it is more important to them that the party nominate a candidate with a strong chance of beating Trump of the Republican Party than it is that they nominate someone who shares their views on major issues.
Although Harris tops on race relations, she lands in fourth place on the other issues tested, with just 10 per cent saying she would do the best job on health care and 6 per cent each on the economy and the climate crisis.
The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS, a survey and market research firm, on Friday through Sunday among a random national sample of 1,613 adults reached on landlines or cellphones by a live interviewer.
Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points; for the subsample of 656 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who are registered to vote, it is 4.7 points.
Harris, who is the first Indian-origin US Senator and first black Senator from California, is the fourth Democratic woman leader to enter the presidential race.