New poll reveals who is leading for the Democratic nomination in 2020 – and it’s a familiar name

Former Vice President Joe Biden is the favorite to win the Democratic nomination to run for president in 2020, according to a poll released to The Hill on Wednesday.

The top three candidates are familiar faces in the Democratic Party; trailing Biden were 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton and her primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The numbers come from a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll of registered Democratic voters earlier this month.

What is the numbers breakdown?

Biden had a significant lead in the poll, with 32 percent of respondents backing him for the nomination. Clinton finished second at 18 percent, and Sanders garnered support from 16 percent of those polled.

Biden, who considered running in 2016 before deciding against it, is still not showing his hand on whether he will run in 2020.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Biden told The Washington Post when asked about running earlier this week.

Most believe Clinton is unlikely to run for office again, although it has not been completely ruled out. Sanders has been active in traveling and fundraising recently, indicating he could be planning to run again after losing the nomination to Clinton in 2016.

CNN reported last month that Sanders has continued to keep his national campaign running since 2016, and he is positioned as a "prime mover" in the race — that is, Sanders will have the power to set the terms and boundaries for the issues that the other nominees will have to work around or within.

Who else?

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) came in fourth at 10 percent. Rounding out the group were Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)  (6 percent), former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (3 percent), Sen. Kamala Harris  (D-Calif.) (2 percent), and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) (1 percent).

The poll shows that the 2020 primary is setting up to be much more competitive than the 2016 primary, which featured one heavy favorite and one underdog, with no other candidates having a realistic shot.