Sanders surges into double-digit primary poll lead in race to face Trump

Vermont senator pulls ahead of Democrat rivals in new national survey on day of televised Nevada debate

Bernie Sanders has surged into a double-digit lead over his Democratic presidential election rivals in a new national poll.

The Vermont senator is leading the field in the race to decide who will face Donald Trump on polling day on 3 November.

Following strong finishes in the first two contests in New Hampshire and Iowa, an ABC News/Washington Post revealed 32 per cent of Democratic voters said they would back Mr Sanders.

Former vice president Joe Biden ranked second with 17 per cent of support, while former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg came in third with 14 per cent, according to the survey, released on Wednesday.

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren got 11 per cent of support, followed by former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg with seven per cent, and Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar with six per cent.

The results come after an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday revealed Mr Sanders had support from 27 per cent of voters, while Mr Biden dropped to 15 per cent from 26 per cent last month.

In the NBC/WSJ poll, Ms Warren fell to 14 per cent (down one per cent), Mr Buttigieg got 13 per cent (up six per cent) and Ms Klobuchar got seven per cent of support (up two per cent).

Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster who carried out the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff, described Mr Sanders as “the definitive front runner”.

He told NBC: “There is one clear and inescapable set of results: Bernie Sanders is the definitive front-runner, and the current numbers do not represent his ceiling, but instead his base with room to grow.”

All six rivals will take part in a nationally televised debate in Nevada on Wednesday night which come three days before the state’s presidential caucuses – the third state-by-state race to find a challenger to Republican Mr Trump.

It will be Mr Bloomberg’s debut debate, therefore giving many voters their first unscripted look at the media mogul and former New York mayor.

Despite skipping the first four early voting states in February to focus on later nominating contests in March, Mr Bloomberg qualified on Tuesday for his first debate after meeting the Democratic National Committee’s polling requirement.

Additional reporting by Reuters.