Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman are bunched together in the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates in California, according to a new poll.

Dean was favored by 16 percent of those likely to vote in the state's Democratic primary next March, according to a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Field Research Institute. He was followed closely by Kerry of Massachusetts at 15 percent and Lieberman of Connecticut at 14 percent.