Poll: Bernie Sanders Holds Commanding Lead in Utah

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is leading the Democrat primary field in Utah, a Salt Lake Tribune/Suffolk University poll released Monday showed.

Suffolk University conducted the poll January 18 – 22, 2020, among 132 Democrat primary voters. It showed the socialist senator leading by double digits with 27 percent support overall. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) came in a distant second with 14 percent support, followed by Joe Biden (D) and Michael Bloomberg (D) with 12 percent and ten percent, respectively. Even though the margin of error is +/- 8.5 percentage points, Sanders’ lead is outside statistical error.

Pete Buttigieg (D) and Andrew Yang (D) tied with five percent support each, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) followed with three percent support. The remaining candidates in the field saw one percent support or less:

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

David Magleby, emeritus political science professor at Brigham Young University, says Sanders leads here because of big support from young Democrats and from the local party’s left-wing leaning — plus his head start from 2016, when he won the Utah Democratic caucuses with an overwhelming 77% of the vote over Hillary Clinton.

“He starts with a foundation of individuals who previously supported him in the presidential contest,” Magleby said, “and those folks are likely to return and participate in 2020.”

Notably, the poll found that one-fifth of voters, 21 percent, remain undecided.

Utah’s primary takes place March 3, 2020.