Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders Lead In New Poll Of Texas Democrats
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Democratic Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders lead a new poll of Texas Democrats.
The Texas Lyceum Poll shows former Vice President Biden with 28%, followed closely by Sanders, a Vermont Senator, with 26%.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is in third place with 13% while former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has 9%.
Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg is in fifth place at 6%, followed by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar at 4%.
Fred Lusk, a Democratic activist in Frisco said, "My first choice for president is Joe Biden. I think he can get elected. I think he's a moderate which I consider myself a moderate. He's got the experience and I think he's got the trustworthiness."
Lusk said his second choice is Bloomberg, who has spent millions of dollars in tv ads in Texas and the 13 other Super Tuesday states.
Bloomberg entered the presidential race too late to campaign in the four early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
Tim O'Brien, a Senior Adviser to Bloomberg, told CBS 11 their campaign is pleased with where they stand in Texas. "We are very confident that those numbers are going to move significantly higher we're very happy with that poll."
O'Brien said they will continue with their strategy of running multiple tv ads, and establishing a ground game to find potential voters.
He said there are 130 staffers in Texas alone, and the campaign plans to open 18 offices across the state, including Dallas.
Bloomberg spent the day campaigning in Houston and El Paso Wednesday.
O'Brien said, "There's 254 counties in the state of Texas and we're going to be in more of them than any other candidate."
Stephanie Martin, an assistant professor of political communication at SMU, said Bloomberg has done well considering he hasn't taken part in any of the Democratic debates and hasn't had a lot of contact with voters. "Nine percent is better than you would have expected him to have based on having run mostly a media campaign."
Martin though said Bloomberg is still at a disadvantage for not campaigning in the first four states. "The question for Mike Bloomberg is how does he remain part of the conversation coming out of those first four states if he doesn't play because when the voting starts, the whole conversation won't be around the campaign, the conversation will be around who's winning and it won't be him."
O'Brien said the Bloomberg campaign has the best digital turnout tool and that there's another reason people are giving Bloomberg a look. "I think there are a large swath of voters out there who aren't happy with the range of choices they have right now, which is why I think you see such a split among the Democrats who are campaigning."
As for Martin, she said for now, she sees a race between Biden and Sanders in Texas, unless there are surprises in Iowa. "Should Warren do surprisingly well, should Buttigieg over-perform in Iowa, all of the sudden, you might see people change their minds and the narrative shift."
The Texas Lyceum Poll also showed President Trump beating Biden, Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg in the only four hypothetical matchups it surveyed.
The poll also asked Texas Democrats about the crowded primary race to unseat Republican Senator John Cornyn.
Twelve Democrats are running, and the poll showed the race continues to be wide open.
Former Air Force combat veteran M.J. Hegar of Central Texas is in first with 11%, followed by State Senator Royce West of Dallas at 8%.
Activist Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez has 7%, while At-Large Houston City Council Member Amanda Edwards has 6%, followed by Beaumont car dealer and pastor Michael Cooper with 4%.
Other candidates include former Houston Congressman and Democratic candidate for Governor Chris Bell and former U.S. Senate candidate Sema Hernandez.
Professor Martin said there doesn't seem to be a lot of energy in the primary at this point. "It's great news for Cornyn because it doesn't appear that voters are especially paying attention to the race. And it's good news for Cornyn that there's not consolidated support around a candidate."
She said that could change come November.
