FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, Ukraine, January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich – LR1ED1G0Q8AZH/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former Vice President Joe Biden expanded his lead over more than a dozen other candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination this month as Congress looked into allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump tried to pressure a foreign leader to investigate him, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.
The Oct. 17-18 opinion poll found that 21% of Democrats and independents said they would vote for Biden in statewide nominating contests that begin next year, up 3 percentage points from a similar poll that was conducted at the end of September.
Another 16% said they would support U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and 15% said they would back U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg received about 5% support and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris and former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke both received 3%.
The race for the Democratic nomination remains wide open. About 1 in 5 said they remain undecided, and nearly two-thirds of Democrats and independents said they could still change their minds.
Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall