Poll: Biden leads Sanders in Michigan ahead of Democratic primary

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a nearly 7-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Michigan ahead of the Wolverine State’s primary next week, according to a new Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll released Tuesday.

Biden got the support of 29 percent of likely primary voters in the survey, compared with 22.5 percent for Sanders. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg garnered 10.5 percent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) captured 7 percent.

Biden’s lead in the poll is largely due to support from voters over the age of 50 as well as black voters. Sanders, meanwhile, beats out the former vice president among voters under 50 and college-educated men.

The Wolverine State’s primary is set to be a test of the support for both Biden and Sanders among white, working-class voters, though Biden is expected to have an edge among African American voters in the populous precincts in and around Detroit.

Sanders narrowly won the Michigan primary in 2016 over Hillary Clinton by just over 1 point.

Michigan will hold its primary on March 10 and will allocate 125 pledged delegates. The state will be a top battleground in November, as Democrats are eager to return it to their column after losing Michigan to President Trump in 2016. 

The poll was conducted during a surge in momentum for Biden, who won the South Carolina primary Saturday by a nearly 30-point margin. He also consolidated his grip over the centrist lane of the primary field after former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropped out of the White House race and endorsed Biden.

“What we saw in our numbers each night [of the poll] was a huge Biden surge,” pollster Richard Czuba said. 

“But there’s still great fluidity. This race is close in Michigan, and I think it will continue to be close,” he added. “It’s all going to be determined by who actually bothers to vote.”

The Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll surveyed 600 likely primary voters from Feb. 28-March 3 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.