Sanders leads poll of young Democrats by double digits

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) holds a double-digit lead among young voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, according to a poll released Monday.

Thirty-one percent of likely voters between 18 and 29 years old surveyed by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics said they prefer the Vermont lawmaker in a hypothetical primary.

{mosads}Former Vice President Joe Biden was the first pick of 20 percent of respondents, while former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) received 10 percent of the support. No other candidate received more than 5 percent.

The youth vote has plenty of time to shift though, as 20 percent of the likely voters said they remain undecided.

“Proving that young voters see more than age, it’s notable that the candidates with the most experience in government service are leading a diverse field at this early stage in the process,” John Della Volpe, director of polling for the Institute of Politics, said in a statement.

“Compared to this point in the last presidential cycle, young Democratic voters are more engaged and likely to have an even greater impact in choosing their party’s nominee,” he added.

Sanders’s support among young voters has consistently placed him near the top of national and early state vote polls. 

The Institute for Politics surveyed 934 likely voters nationwide from March 8 to 20. The margin of error for the sample is 4.5 percentage points.