March 15, 2017
With much speculation already afloat about his possible presidential aspirations, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey is currently a front-runner in the 2020 Democratic primary, according to a poll conducted by one of his potential rivals.
Politico reported Wednesday that former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley's leadership PAC commissioned a Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa, where the country's first primary takes place, to gauge his shot at another presidential run.
O'Malley, who ran in 2016, topped the poll. Amongst the nine candidates in the poll, Booker came in a very close second.
The poll, which shows O’Malley at 18 percent of Democratic caucus-goers in a field of nine potential candidates if the contest were held today, also asked the Iowans about New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former Housing Sec. Julian Castro, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. “Not sure” got 32 percent of the vote.
O’Malley — who ran against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the 2016 nomination before dropping out on caucus night after earning less than 1 percent of the vote — was joined at the top of the poll by Booker, who was at 17 percent. Neighboring Senator Klobuchar, who's been a frequent visitor to Iowa over the years, got 11 percent. All other candidates were under 10 percent.
A number of high-profile potential 2020 candidates were left out of the poll, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Sanders.
Behind O'Malley, Booker also scored the second-highest favorability rating, with 40 percent to 11 percent viewing him unfavorably.
As noted in November, Booker has been considered a way-too-early favorite to potentially secure the Democratic nomination in 2020 ever since President Donald Trump was elected. But with a party that, in many ways, seems to be shifting further to the left, Booker's ties to Wall Street might resurface to bite him — just ask Hillary Clinton.
You can read more about O'Malley's trial balloon poll here.
