Poll: Michael Bloomberg Surges Past Elizabeth Warren To Third Place Nationally

Although a late entry into the contest for the Democratic presidential nominee, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has surged to third place nationally, according to a new poll.

A Reuters survey conducted Jan. 29-30 among independents and registered Democrats found that support for Bloomberg has risen to 12 percent, a five point spike since December. The pollsters said that Bloomberg has been garnering increasing support from an array of voting groups, including rural Americans and high-income individuals.

Despite being entirely excluded from the Democratic Party debates, due to his campaign declining to take donations, Bloomberg has been garnering a great deal of attention thanks to his advertising efforts. Since entering the race, he has been spending aggressively on advertising campaigns across a variety of mediums; as of Jan. 22, Bloomberg had spent over $250 million of his own money, including $10 million alone for a 60-second spot during the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Bloomberg has been campaigning on a handful of issues, such as expanded gun control, while also offering moderate policy positions such as the creation of a public health care option, rather than a Medicare For All system. More recently, Bloomberg announced that he would grant statehood to Puerto Rico if he were to become president, a stance only shared by two other Democratic candidates.

Despite Bloomberg’s apparent surge, he is still behind both former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who were found by Reuters to be polling nationally at 23 and 18 percent, respectively. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., gave up her spot at third place, dropping five points to 10 percent since December.

Warren’s campaign has struggled over the winter, with the first cracks beginning to show as critics questioned her health care policies. More recently, she has faced moderate backlash over her allegations that Sanders once told her that a woman cannot become president.

Iowa is set to become the first state to caucus for the Democratic Party this Monday. Polling aggregator RealClearPolitics places Sanders out front with Biden and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg coming in second and third.