Only 53% of Bernie Sanders Voters Will Definitely Support 2020 Democratic Nominee if He Doesn't Win: Poll
Only a small majority of Bernie Sanders voters say they will definitely support the eventual Democratic nominee at the 2020 election if the independent Vermont senator does not win the race, according to a poll.
The National Emerson College Poll of 1,128 registered voters between January 21 and January 23 found that 53 percent of Sanders supporters said "yes" when asked if they would support the Democratic nominee even if it is not their candidate.
Another 31 percent of Sanders supporters said it depends on who the nominee is and 16 percent flat-out said no. The poll, conducted via landline calls and an online panel, has a 2.8 percentage point margin of error.
The poll suggests some Sanders supporters are out of step with their own chosen candidate on the question of supporting the Democratic nominee regardless of who it is.
"Let me be clear: If any of the women on this stage or any of the men on this stage win the nomination—I hope that's not the case, I hope it's me—but if they do I will do everything in my power to make sure that they are elected in order to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country," Sanders said at the recent Iowa debate.
By comparison to Sanders, 87 percent of former vice president Joe Biden's supporters said yes to voting for whoever wins the nomination, 9 percent it depends on the winning candidate, and 5 percent said no to anyone that is not Biden.
And 90 percent of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren's supporters said they would vote for whoever is the nominee, while the remaining 10 percent said it depended on who won the nomination.
None of Warren's supporters said they would not vote for the eventual nominee if she loses the Democratic race.
According to the Emerson poll, Biden is the narrow frontrunner in the primary race at 30 percent followed by Sanders in second at 27 percent. Warren polled at 13 percent.
Below the top three was tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 8 percent, billionaire Michael Bloomberg at 7 percent, and former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg at 6 percent.
Emerson noted that since its last national poll in December, Biden has lost 2 points, Warren gained 1 point, Buttigieg lost 2 points, Sanders and Yang each gained 2 points, and Bloomberg gained 3 points.
"If Bloomberg continues to gain support it could come at Biden's expense, which could create a pathway for Sanders to the nomination," said Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson College Polling, in a statement.
"On the other hand, Yang is pulling votes away from Sanders with younger voters and this is a very interesting age dynamic."
The Democratic contest's opening Iowa caucus is coming up on February 3 and kicks off the primaries season. The winner will formally receive the Democratic party nomination for the 2020 election at its national convention in mid-July. The next presidential election takes place in November.
A recent poll by SurveyUSA found that, of all the prominent Democratic candidates, Sanders leads Trump in a face-off by 9 points, the widest margin. The poll found that 52 percent of voters would choose Sanders and 43 percent Trump.
