Bernie Sanders leads Iowa Poll for the first time, just weeks before Iowa Caucus

NEW Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows 20% of likely Democratic caucusgoers name Sanders as their first choice for president.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is leading the Iowa Poll for the first time, and just 3 weeks remain before the Iowa caucuses.

Sanders took the lead in the Democratic field and narrowly overtook his closest competitors, Sanders, Biden, and Buttigieg, all in a tight scrum just behind Sanders.

Here are the top line numbers:

IOWA WH2020 poll(DMR/CNN/Selzer, with trend from November):Sanders 20 (+5)Warren 17 (+1)Buttigieg 16 (-9)Biden 15 (+0)Klobuchar 6 (+0)Yang 5 (+2)Booker 3 (+0)Gabbard 2 (-1)Steyer 2 (-1)

Excerpt from the Des Moines Register:

After a surge of enthusiasm that pushed Pete Buttigieg to the top of the field in November, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor has faded, falling 9 percentage points to land behind both Sanders and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren is at 17%; Buttigieg, 16%; and former Vice President Joe Biden, 15%.

Theres no denying that this is a good poll for Bernie Sanders. He leads, but its not an uncontested lead, said pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll. Hes got a firmer grip on his supporters than the rest of his compatriots.

IOWA WH2020 poll (DMR/CNN/Selzer, with trend from November):Sanders 20 (+5)Warren 17 (+1)Buttigieg 16 (-9)Biden 15 (+0)Klobuchar 6 (+0)Yang 5 (+2)Booker 3 (+0)Gabbard 2 (-1)Steyer 2 (-1)https://t.co/hcharuzx6M

— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) January 10, 2020

First choice + second choice combined:Warren 33 (17+16)Sanders 32 (20+12)Buttigieg 31 (16+15)Biden 27 (15+12)Klobuchar 14 (6+8)Yang 11 (5+6)...no