Bernie Sanders winning with Latino voters, Joe Biden a close second: Poll

Sen. Bernard Sanders is leading with Latino voters in the Democratic presidential race, found a Univision Poll released Friday.

Mr. Sanders was the preferred candidate of 21% or Latinos registered to vote, followed by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden at 19% and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 15%, according to the survey.

The voters in the poll flocked to Mr. Sanders following the Democratic presidential debate last week in Houston. The poll also showed the Vermonter got the largest share of Latinos saying he won the debate.

The Latino voters broke from national polls that show Mr. Biden as the frontrunner and Ms. Warren in second place in the race for the nomination.

The spike in support for Ms. Warren among Latino — she jumped from 4 percentage points since the same poll in June — mirrored her rising numbers in polls of Democratic voters in general.

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has struggled in the polls, got a major boost from Latino voters after the debate. His numbers nearly doubled from 6% in June to 11% in the new survey.

About 64% of Latino voters said they were more likely to vote for the Democratic Party because of Mr. O’Rourke’s aggressive call for a mandatory buy-back of military-style rifles in response to the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.

Senator Kamala Harris, whose campaign has hit the skids, saw the decline reflected among Latino voters. She led the Univision poll in June with 23% but fell to 4% in the new survey.

The survey of 408 Latino registered voters had a 4.8% margin of error.