Warren Routs Hillary in Liberal Presidential Poll

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is the overwhelming favorite in a new presidential poll that ranks Hillary Clinton a distant third among liberal Democrats asked to name their favorite candidate for 2016, CNN reports.

In a poll conducted by the liberal advocacy PAC Democracy for America, the populist first-term Massachusetts senator known for her sharp criticism of the financial industry was the top pick of 42 percent of those surveyed.

Clinton — the clear favorite in non-partisan polls of Democratic voters — was the preferred candidate of 23 percent, just behind Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, with 24 percent.

"These results come amid a groundswell of activism from the Democratic party's more liberal wing, which has called for a contested 2016 primary and has often questioned Clinton's financial ties to Wall Street," CNN reports.

Almost 165,000 people cast votes in Democracy for America's "2016 Presidential Pulse Poll, which asked participants Nov. 6-18 to select and rank candidates for the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, CNN reports.

"Elizabeth Warren won by a large margin because she inspires Democrats by valiantly fighting for populist progressive policies to address income inequality in the face of Wall Street resistance -- and because she regularly engages with the grassroots base of her party," Democracy for America executive director Charles Chamberlain wrote online in announcing the results.

"DFA members know primaries matter," Chamberlain wrote. "We know that the Democratic Party is stronger when it's a contest of ideas, not a coronation. And we know that none of the potential candidates can lock up the nomination before a campaign has even begun."

Neither Clinton nor Warren has announced plans to seek their party's presidential nomination.

But Clinton is widely expected to enter the race as the presumptive front-runner, while Warren has repeatedly said that she will support Clinton and sit out 2016 — even as Warren supporters try to tempt her into the Democratic primaries.

Democracy for America, founded by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, has raised more than $32 million for progressive candidates since the group's founding in 2004, CNN reports.

Republicans, meanwhile, argue that Warren is already having an impact on the former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady — by pulling her to the left.

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