Elizabeth Warren leading Democratic presidential field in California: Poll

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has risen to the top of the 2020 Democratic presidential field in California, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

Ms. Warren of Massachusetts had the support of 29% of likely Democratic primary voters, followed by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden at 20% and Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont at 19%, according to the UC Berkley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times.

Sen. Kamala D. Harris was in fourth place at 8% in her home state, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, was at 6%.

“We appear to be at an inflection point in the Democratic presidential campaign,” said Mark DiCamillo, the director of the Berkeley IGS poll. “The changing voting preferences of California Democrats may be a harbinger of things to come elsewhere across the country.”

Though Mr. Biden has retained an edge in the latest Real Clear Politics average of national polling, Ms. Warren has eclipsed him in recent polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as in a national Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.

California, which holds its primary on March 3, is the biggest prize for Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination next year, with about 500 delegates slated to be at next summer’s convention.

The survey of 2,272 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted from Sept. 13-18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.