SurveyUSA poll: Biden still frontrunner but Andrew Yang gaining ground among California Democrats

Following last week's Democratic debate, Vice President Joe Biden remains the frontrunner to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, according to a new nationwide poll conducted for Eyewitness News.

Biden remained out front among the top Democrats with 33 percent support in the Survey USA poll. He was followed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. California's Sen. Kamala Harris was fourth.

But perhaps one of the poll's more surprising findings was a closer look at how the candidates are faring within California.

With Golden State voters, the poll found New Yorker Andrew Yang gaining some momentum among the lesser-known candidates.

Yang is currently sitting in fifth place - but he's been climbing since the last survey. He's now at 7% in California, up from 1% in earlier surveys. And among voters ages 18-34, Yang is taking 14% of the vote.

Unsurprisingly, Biden is leading the pack with 27% support from voters across the state.

Though Biden is well ahead in the poll, it's mostly because his nearest rivals, including Harris, did not gain ground with voters across the Golden State following last week's debate in Houston.

He's followed by Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with 18% and 16% of the votes, respectively.

Biden also leads Sanders and Warren among Latino voters at 29%, compared to their 22% and 15%. The political veteran is also ahead among self-described "very liberal" Democrats.

Warren and Harris, who remains stagnant in fourth place with 13%, both slid down a few points each in the poll.

When asked which candidate they believed would defeat Trump in a general election, 62% said Biden, showing a 21-point lead on Warren and Sanders.

Biden also remains in the top spot on a national scale, drawing 33% of the vote and creating a 14-point gap between himself and Warren.

Other presidential hopefuls such as Harris, Beto O'Rourke, Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker are hovering in the single-digit range.

Here are highlights of the poll's findings:

1. California will hold a Democratic presidential primary on March 3, 2020. Not everyone has time to vote in a primary. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means you are certain you will NOT vote in the California Democratic presidential primary and 10 means you are 100% certain that you will vote in the California Democratic presidential primary, where do you fall?

5% 1

1% 2

1% 3

1% 4

3% 5

2% 6

5% 7

8% 8

12% 9

62% 10

2. Democratic candidates for President debated this week in Houston. Which best describes you: I watched the debate from beginning to end; I watched some of the debate "live", but mostly I saw highlights afterwards; I did not watch any of the debate "live", but I saw news coverage afterwards; I did not watch the debate or see any news coverage of the debate; I was not aware the Democrats were debating

31% Watched Beginning To End

32% Watched Some Live / Mostly Saw Highlights

28% Did Not Watch Any Live / Watched Coverage After

7% Did Not Watch Or See Coverage

2% Was Not Aware

3. Where you live, if there were a Democratic primary today, which Democrat would you vote for to be the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States?

27% Joe Biden

18% Bernie Sanders

16% Elizabeth Warren

13% Kamala Harris

7% Andrew Yang

3% Pete Buttigieg

2% Beto O'Rourke

2% Julian Castro

2% Cory Booker

1% Amy Klobuchar

1% Some Other Democrat

7% Undecided

4. Regardless of who may be your first choice to be the Democratic Party Nominee in 2020, which of these Democrats, if any, would defeat Donald Trump in a general election for President of the United States today? Amy Klobuchar?

7% Yes

93% No

5. Andrew Yang?

11% Yes

89% No

6. Bernie Sanders?

41% Yes

59% No

7. Beto O'Rourke

13% Yes

87% No

8. Cory Booker?

12% Yes

88% No

9. Elizabeth Warren?

41% Yes

59% No

10. Joe Biden?

62% Yes

38% No

11. Julian Castro?

8% Yes

92% No

12. Kamala Harris?

27% Yes

73% No

12. Pete Buttigieg?

14% Yes

86% No

13. None of these Democrats would defeat Donald Trump in an Election today.

6% Yes

94% No

14. For a moment, let's put the shoe on the other foot. Assume Donald Trump is going to win a 2nd term. Which one of these Democrats would lose to Donald Trump by the largest margin?

14% Bernie Sanders

8% Elizabeth Warren

11% Joe Biden

11% Kamala Harris

15% Pete Buttigieg

15% Beto O'Rourke

14% Trump Would Not Defeat Any Of These Democrats

12% Not Sure