Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) risks missing the 15 percent viability threshold required to garner statewide delegates in Florida, according to a St. Pete Polls survey released Thursday.
The survey, taken March 6-8, 2020, among 2,480 likely Florida Democrat primary voters, shows Joe Biden (D) dominating the Vermont senator in the Sunshine State. Now that Michael Bloomberg (D), who at one point led in Florida, is out of the race, Biden leads Sanders by a massive 55 points:
The margin of error is +/- two percent.
Notably, Sanders comes in with just 14 percent — one point below the 15 percent threshold required to obtain delegates from the delegate-rich state offering 219 delegates total:
Florida has 219 delegates at stake in the primary. Of those, 76 will be given out based on the statewide vote, but only to candidates who crack the 15% threshold.
Other delegates will be awarded based on performance within Congressional districts. The St Pete Polls survey found Sanders performing better in college towns like Gainesville and Tallahassee than statewide, with the underdog winning 23% or greater support in those markets, so it’s unlikely he leaves Florida empty-handed.
Three other states — Illinois, Ohio, and Arizona — will vote on March 17 and offer 155, 136, and 67 delegates, respectively.
If Sanders fails to reach the delegate threshold in Florida, it will boost Biden’s delegate lead and further dwindle Sanders’ presidential aspirations. A candidate needs 1,991 pledged delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot.
The self-described socialist senator took electoral hits on Super Tuesday, as Biden swept the south. The March 10 primaries, or “Mini Super Tuesday,” also did not work in Sanders’ favor, as he lost the biggest prize of the night, Michigan, to Biden by over 16 percentage points.