A recent poll indicates registered voters favor former Vice President Joe Biden as the frontrunner for the Democratic primary, out at least 10 points ahead of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found 31 percent of registered voters surveyed would back Biden if the primary were held today. The firm is owned by Dean Debnam, a financial heavyweight in local elections. Over 500 registered voters participated in the survey.
Biden's campaign seems to have lost steam in the last few weeks, buckling under pressure from progressive challengers Warren and Sanders. However, this week Warren claimed Sander's told her a woman could not beat President Trump in 2020, igniting tensions between the two candidates. Sanders denied saying that to Warren.
The feud may be irrelevant in North Carolina if, as the poll suggests, only 18 percent of survey respondents favor Sanders and 15 percent prefer Warren.
Michael Bloomberg, who recently opened a campaign office in downtown Raleigh, was favored by just 8 percent of those surveyed, followed by Pete Buttigieg. Tom Steyer, who visited Durham's McDougald Terrace last week, got only 3 percent. Eleven percent of those polled said they were undecided.
Meanwhile, Democratic-party favorite and army veteran Cal Cunningham leads the pack in the Senate race against Republican Thom Tillis, race with 22 percent of those polled behind him, followed by state Senator Erica Smith with 12 percent. However, 60 percent of respondents are still undecided in that race.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they disapprove of President Donald Trump, with only 5 percent undecided. Big shocker there.
The primary will take place on March 3.
Check out the full poll results here:
Contact Raleigh news editor Leigh Tauss at ltauss@indyweek.com.
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