Bernie tops progressive straw poll - Democracy for America

By DAVID SIDERS 12/18/2018 05:07 AM EST

Excerpt:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tops the first 2020 straw poll by the progressive political action committee Democracy for America by a wide margin, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).

The straw poll is more significant as a sign of organizational support than as a measure of public opinion. DFA boasts more than a million members, and after throwing its support from Warren to Sanders in 2016, it played an instrumental role in his unsuccessful presidential campaign.

Leading the field was Sanders, with 36 percent support. He was followed by Biden at 15 percent and O’Rourke at 12 percent. Warren and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), received 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively. No other potential candidate received more than 4 percent.

DFA said members cast more than 94,000 votes, ranking up to three potential candidates on each ballot. The poll ran Nov. 29 through Dec. 14, and results reflect only first-choice votes. The group polled 23 candidates, with write-ins accounting for nearly 5 percent of the vote, officials said.

“These results make clear that, while Bernie Sanders has a strong early lead, no single potential presidential candidate has full command of the Democratic Party’s progressive base heading into 2019,” the group’s incoming chief executive, Yvette Simpson, said in a prepared statement. “With more than 14 months before Iowa, we expect these results to change as grassroots progressives hear the messages the candidates are running on, see the campaigns executing on the ground, and watch them construct the broad-based coalition of the New American Majority of people of color and white progressive voters it will take to beat Donald Trump.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/18/bernie-sanders-straw-poll-2020-elections-1067867

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https://poll.democracyforamerica.com/results/