Former Vice President Joe Biden’s lead in Texas grew to 17 points ahead of his closest Democratic presidential primary competitor in the state, according to a new poll.
Biden is leading with 35 percent support, based on the Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll released February 2, 2019.
He has a 17-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who registered at 18 percent in the poll. Biden’s lead over Sanders was only 9 points in polls conducted by the Texas university in September and November.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is tied for third with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, each registering at 16 percent support, based on the poll. Bloomberg, a billionaire self-financing his campaign, has been focusing on Super Tuesday states, including Texas, after opting to skip the first four nominating contests which his opponents are campaigning in.
No other candidates registered in double-digit support.
Biden’s support is strongest among surveyed black Democrat or Democratic-leaning independents, based on the poll. He has the support of 50 percent of black voters in Texas, whereas Sanders only garnered 18 percent of black support.
Biden is also leading with white voters in the state, at 27 percent support, and Hispanic voters, at 33 percent support.
Sanders, however, has the most enthusiastic support among voters who said they backed him in Texas. The poll found 71 percent of likely Democratic voters who support the Vermont senators said they were “very enthusiastic” to vote for him, whereas only 58 percent said so about Biden, 55 percent said so about Bloomberg, and 53 percent said so about Warren.
The poll found 67 percent of likely Democratic voters said they are “very enthusiastic” about businessman Andrew Yang, but he only registered at 3 percent support.
The poll was conducted between Jan. 21 and 30 and surveyed 1,169 registered voters, including 427 voters who identify with the Democratic party or independents that lean toward the party. There is a margin of error of 4.44 percentage points.
Sources:
The Hill: Biden stretches lead to 17 points in Texas: poll
Featured and Top Image Courtesy Of Phil Roeder’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
