A new poll shows Joe Biden easily beating Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the upcoming Democratic primary in Florida.
The former vice president received approximately 61% support, according to a St. Pete Polls survey released Thursday, nearly 49 percentage points ahead of Sanders.
Sanders, a socialist, was beaten by the 13.5% support for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race after his poor performance on Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden.
“I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden,” Bloomberg said on Wednesday. The billionaire former mayor spent approximately $558 million on campaign advertisements and staff, setting records for spending the most money on presidential campaign TV ads in one week.
Sanders ended up in third place with approximately 12% support, falling 2 points shy of the RealClearPolitics state average.
The survey, conducted March 4, polled 1,882 registered Democratic voters. Nearly 29% of respondents were black, and 16% were Hispanic. The former vice president led in every racial category, with nearly 83% support among black voters, 64% support from Hispanic voters, and 88% support from white voters.
Biden leads Sanders in the delegate fight for the Democratic nomination process, 596 to 531. A total of 1,991 pledged delegates are needed to secure the party’s nomination for president, and 219 are at stake in Florida.
The margin of error was plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
