KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — A new poll out Thursday shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination just days before the Missouri presidential primary on March 10.
According to a Nexstar/Emerson College poll, a final ballot test of Missouri respondents found 48.1% of voters would choose Biden, with 43.7% voting for Sanders. The margin of error is +/- 4.7%
While a number of Democratic candidates will be on the ballot next Tuesday, the race is effectively down to these two with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren dropping out of the race earlier on Thursday.
Among final ballot respondents who didn’t choose Biden or Sanders, 6.3% said they would vote for someone else, while 1.8% chose U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
The poll exhibits enduring momentum for Biden, who had a strong showing on Super Tuesday, winning in Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Senator Sanders won in California, Colorado, Utah and his home state of Vermont. The Associated Press reports that Biden currently has 627 delegates to Sanders’ 551. Aside from Missouri, voters go to the polls in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota and Washington on March 10.
While there’s been a flurry of activity with Democratic hopefuls recently dropping out, this poll found that a majority of voters made up their minds before Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer suspended their campaigns. Results show that 30.9% decided some time within the last week, as opposed to 61.6% who decided before that.
Respondents said health care is the single most important issue when deciding on a candidate, with 27.3% voting it as the top issue. That was followed by the environment at 15.6%, social issues at 15.2% and the economy at 13.1%.
