More Dem voters backing ‘electable’ candidate over their personal preference than in 2016

The percentage of Democratic primary voters backing a candidate they perceive as more “electable” rather than their first choice is up compared to the 2016 election cycle, according to a Huffington Post/YouGov poll.

The poll showed 12 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters said they were backing a candidate they believed to have a better shot of winning rather than their personal favorite, compared to 41 percent voting for their favorite. That is up from 2016, when 8 percent said they were backing a more “electable” candidate rather than their favorite.

{mosads}The poll also found variations in what traits voters perceived as making a candidate more electable. Thirty percent thought a candidate being female would be a liability in the election compared to 17 percent who thought it would be an asset, compared to 36 percent who thought being male would be an asset and 4 percent who thought it would be a liability.

Twenty-eight percent said a candidate being non-white would be a liability compared to 13 percent who would be an asset, and 35 percent said being over 70 would be a liability compared to 8 percent who said it would be an asset.

In polling of the candidates for perceived electability, 69 percent said former Vice President Joe Biden was electable, followed by 49 percent who said the same of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Biden, who has not yet formally announced a bid, and Sanders have led most polling of the field thus far. The polling on electability was conducted March 20-21, about a week before former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D) became the first of several women to say Biden had touched her inappropriately.

The poll was conducted among 1,000 U.S. adults, with a 3.4-point margin of error.