The Democratic Party is currently involved in a neck-to-neck race to nominate a candidate to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 General Election. 

According to recent surveys, the top three candidates – Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, have been polling each around 25%, with Biden polling strongest amongst voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada (Morning Consult). Notably further behind have been candidates Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang, all polling around 5%. There have been a plethora of other candidates also running, polling each with a combined 1% of the vote, including but not limited to candidates such as Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock and Julian Castro.

Noticeably, Joe Biden, former Vice President under the Obama Administration, has seemed to be a front-runner among the crowd of eager democratic voters. However, he has gained plenty recent criticism over his tendency to lean more moderately on issues in the midst of an extremely progressively-leaning Democratic Party. 

Many Democratic politicians have been adamant on needing a united front of voters if they want to beat Trump in the general election. “We need to be able to build a coalition of voters that are excited, that are gonna turn out at historic levels, and we can’t rely on it just being based on Trump being on the ballot; that won’t be enough,” said Maria Urbina, national political director for Indivisible, a bipartisan group dedicated to spreading progressive ideals.

The Iowa Caucus, set to take place on February 3, 2020, will give the democratic party a better idea of where candidate support falls amongst the many potential nominees.