U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is leading in the April 28 New York state Democratic primary according to a new Siena Institute poll released this week. While he is leading the state with 25 percent of the vote compared to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 21 percent and former Vice President Joe Biden’s 13 percent, Sanders is losing the Jewish vote with only six percent of support.
The poll found that New York state Jewish voters supported Bloomberg with 28 percent, followed by former mayor Pete Buttigieg with 16 percent, Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren with 10 percent and Senator Amy Klobouchar with 9 percent.
Sanders has widened his lead for the Democratic presidential nomination and overtaken Biden in support among African Americans – a voting bloc that until now has largely favored the former vice president, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll released on Tuesday.
The result could spell trouble for Biden, the one-time frontrunner who has lagged behind the field after the first few Democratic nominating contests. To remain a viable contender, Biden has been banking on a strong showing in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, a state where black voters make up more than half of the Democratic electorate.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted February 19-25, also showed that support for Bloomberg slipped by two percentage points after he faced intense scrutiny from other candidates last week in his first debate as a presidential candidate.
Among all registered Democrats and independents, 26% said they would vote for Sanders, while 15 percent said they were backing Bloomberg and another 15 percent supported Biden.
Read more via Haaretz/Reuters
