WASHINGTON —Joe Biden leads the pack of Democratic White House hopefuls in a new Qunnipiac University poll of California Democrats that puts the former vice president ahead of Oakland-born California Sen. Kamala Harris. 

Biden wins over 26 percent of California Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters in the new poll, with Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Harris close behind at 18 and 17 percent respectively. 

Sanders' lead over Harris is well within the 4.1 percent margin of error. But the poll shows how Biden and Sanders continue to have a decent hold on Democratic voters, even in a state where Harris has strong name ID. 

The new poll is also one of the first major surveys to take the temperature of Democrats responding to allegations Biden has made women uncomfortable by touching them over the years. 

Two thirds of the Democrats and Democratic-leaners say the issue is not serious, and that margin is virtually the same among female registered voters of any party identification. Younger voters or more likely to view the issue as serious, but a majority of those still do not find the issue serious. 

Click here for more on the poll, and read on for more from the 2020 beat. 

• Sanders is releasing his latest Medicare for All bill in the Senate, with the backing of fellow 2020 Democrats like Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who have co-signed the legislation.
• Former Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday at a trade union conference in Washington D.C. that he will make a decision on whether to run for president "in a couple of weeks." 
• Warren, who had previously released tax returns from 2008-2017, released her 2018 returns on Wednesday. The documents show that she and her husband had a combined income of about $900,000 and paid an effective tax rate of about 27 percent.