New Poll Finds Biden Widening Lead Over Other Dems in Florida

Former Vice President Joe Biden has widened his lead to 26 points among Florida voters in the race to be the Democratic party’s nominee for president in 2020, a new Florida Atlantic University poll shows.

The statewide survey was conducted by FAU’s Business and Economics Polling Initiative.

It found that Biden has increased his support to 42 percent, up from 34 percent in the university’s September 2019 poll.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., jumped to second place at 14 percent, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren fell to third at 10 percent, down significantly from the 24 percent support she enjoyed in September.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came in fourth at 7 percent, followed by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 6 percent, entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 5 percent and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 3 percent.

A majority of Democratic primary voters (54 percent) said they will definitely vote for their top choice, with 46 percent saying there is a chance they could change their minds and vote for someone else. The Florida Democratic primary is March 17.

“Joe Biden continues to be in a very strong position in Florida,” said Monica Escaleras, director of the university’s polling effort. “However, it will be interesting to see what impact the early contests in New Hampshire and Iowa will have on voters in Florida regarding their support for Biden.”

Sanders fared best among Florida voters in head-to-head matchups against President Donald Trump, with a 53-to-47 percent advantage on the president.

Biden and Warren have narrow two-point leads on Trump, 51 to 49 percent, while Buttigieg finished in a 50-50 dead heat with the president. In September, Trump held small leads in each of these head-to-head matchups.

Trump’s approval rating is only slightly above water among Florida voters, with 45 percent approval and 43 percent disapproval.

However, he continues to be hugely popular among GOP voters, with a 66-point lead on his Republican rivals, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.

The survey was conducted Jan. 9-12 and polled 1,285 Florida registered voters. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. The margin of error for both the Republican primary and the Democratic primary is +/- 4.4 percentage points.