Final Polls Show Joe Biden Leading 7 Of 14 Super Tuesday States, Retaking Nationwide Lead After South Carolina
After a resounding victory in South Carolina, topping second-place Bernie Sanders by almost 30 percentage points, former Vice President Joe Biden has surged to the top spot in the Democratic race for the 2020 presidential nomination, according to one new poll. In addition, he leads in half the 14 states voting on March 3, “Super Tuesday,” per a second poll.
The new Morning Consult poll taken overnight Monday and into Tuesday reflected not only Biden’s South Carolina triumph, but Monday night’s dramatic endorsements from former Democratic rivals, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O’Rourke.
According to the Morning Consult poll, Biden jumped 10 percentage points from a poll conducted by the same firm just two days earlier. That put Biden at 36 percent support among Democrats nationwide in the poll, a full eight points ahead of Sanders, at 28 percent. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg placed third at 19 percent, while Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren garnered 14 percent support in the poll released Tuesday.
“Other,” which would include the fifth and final candidate still officially participating in the race — Hawaii congressional Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — received 3 percent in the Morning Consult poll.
Voting got underway on Tuesday morning in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
A second new poll released on Tuesday by the progressive research organization Data For Progress surveyed each of the 14 Super Tuesday states and found Biden holding a lead in seven of them, including the delegate-rich state of Texas.
With 228 pledged delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, Texas boasts the second biggest haul of the day behind the 415 offered up by California. In the entire primary process, only California and New York (274) carry more delegates than the Lone Star State.
According to the Data For Progress poll, Biden held a two-point edge over Sanders in Texas heading into Super Tuesday voting, 30-28, with Warren at 20 percent and Bloomberg at 17.
But in California, Sanders continued to hold a seven-point lead over Biden, 32-25. However, compared to other recent polls, the seven-point deficit showed significant progress for the former VP, who trailed Sanders by double-digits in most polls taken over the past two weeks, according to data compiled by Real Clear Politics.
After his victory in South Carolina, the new poll showed Biden sweeping the southern states that vote on Super Tuesday, holding a 25-point lead in Alabama over Sanders, as well as a 13-point lead in Arkansas and a 15-point lead in Virginia.
Sanders was set for an easy win in his home state of Vermont, where Data For Progress showed him up by 41 points over Warren and Biden. Warren led in Massachusetts, her home state, but by only two points over Sanders and Biden.
