New poll shows Sen. Bernie Sanders is most favored among potential 2024 candidates in both parties

A new USA Today/Ipsos poll published on Friday showed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is the most highly favored among both parties for the presidential nomination in 2024.

The poll, which was conducted via online interviews of 2,345 American adults from August 18-22, showed 46 percent of respondents gave Senator Sanders a favorable or or somewhat favorable rating, the highest of the 23 people on the list. Coming in second to Sanders is current President Joe Biden, who was rated as 43 percent favorable. When it comes to disapproval, Sanders’ unfavorability rating came in at 41 percent, compared to Biden’s unfavorability score of 52 percent.

Among Democratic respondents, Biden saw the highest favorability rate of those named, at 82 percent. Vice President Kamala Harris proved relatively popular among respondents in general, coming in third most favorable overall, just ahead of former vice president Mike Pence. 

Republican respondents indicated they most favored former president Donald Trump, rating him 81 percent favorable. Other more moderate GOP leaders like Maryland Governor Larry Hogan showed some of the lowest favorability ratings from Republican respondents, though some indicated their lower ratings were due to being relatively unfamiliar with Hogan and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu.

Sanders clocked in with an 18 percent favorability rating among Republican respondents – the highest GOP rating among all Democrats listed. Incumbent President Biden, however, has seen a surge in his approval rating in recent weeks as the price of gas has continued to fall.

His rising approval can also be attributed to several of his recent legislative wins, including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the forgiveness of student loan debt.