Monmouth University Polling Institute admitted Wednesday that it's most recent Democratic primary poll appears to be an outlier.

The poll quickly gained attention when it was released Monday because the results were a far cry from previous polls done by both Monmouth and other polling organizations. Specifically, it showed the frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, falling 13 percent to a statistical tie with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

"It occurs very infrequently, but every pollster who has been in this business a while recognizes that outliers happen. This appears to be one of those instances," Patrick Murray, director of the institute wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

The poll was notable because it was one of the final polls the Democratic Party used to determine which candidates will qualify to take the stage during the party's third debate in early September. Biden, Sanders, and Warren have already met the requirements.

On Tuesday, before Monmouth announced that the poll may not be the best indicator of public opinion, Murray told Cheddar that Democratic-leaning voters might be "second guessing" the former vice president.

"Voters are now searching for: who do I think is the best candidate for me, for the issues that I stand for, and also, for beating Donald Trump. Maybe they're second guessing Joe Biden," Murray said.

On Wednesday, after the poll was deemed an outlier, Murray issued a statement to Cheddar that still indicated his belief that Biden is largely finding success because of his name recognition.

"While the horse race results of our poll are different from other national polls, the underlying dynamics of the race remain that a large proportion of Biden's support is based on name recognition and perceptions of electability," he said. Murray added: "Voters are starting to tune in and may cast about. They could end up sticking with Biden in the end, but it remains a sign that his support is based on a different set of priorities than it is for voters who back other candidates."

The Monmouth poll released Monday was based on 298 registered voters who identified as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic party, with a +/- 5.7 percent point margin of error.

When asked about the poll on Tuesday, Biden's campaign team directed Cheddar to the polls done by Morning Consult and Emerson University Polling.

On Wednesday, another set of DNC-approved qualifying polls were released. Both the USA Today/Suffolk University poll and Quinnipiac University poll show Joe Biden in the lead at 32 percent with Warren and Sanders in second and third by significant margins.

Biden's Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield told MSNBC Tuesday, "He is leading in the polls, to be clear."

Share:
More In Politics
Musk slams Trump’s big tax bill as senators race to meet deadline
President Donald Trump wants his “big, beautiful” bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be singed into law by Independence Day. And he’s pushing the slow-rolling Senate to make it happen sooner rather than later. Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune at the White House early this week and has been dialing senators for one-on-one chats, using both the carrot and stick to encourage them to act. But it’s still a long road ahead for the bill. Senators want to make changes to protect Medicaid and to make sure some tax breaks become permanent. Elon Musk called the whole bill a "disgusting abomination.”
Load More