Joe Biden. | AP Photo/Matt Rourke Florida poll shows Biden with staggering 44-point lead over Sanders

TALLAHASSEE — Joe Biden is in line to deliver a knockout punch to Bernie Sanders in Florida in Tuesday‘s Democratic primary, according to a new poll that gives the former vice president a staggering 44-point lead over his opponent.

Biden is lapping Sanders in voter support, with support from 66 percent of likely Democratic primary voters to 22 percent for Sanders, according to a University of North Florida poll taken March 5-10.


The findings land just after Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, on Wednesday vowed to stay in the presidential race despite taking a multi-state beatdown in the past two weeks. Biden has 864 delegates to Sanders’ 710, and Florida has 219 grabs. Voters there go to the polls March 17.

“This is down to a two-man race and Biden is looking toward a blowout in Florida,” said Michael Binder, the director of UNF’s Public Opinion Research Lab. Sanders, he said, “is facing a do-or-die debate on Sunday if he hopes to swing the momentum.”

The poll of 1,339 Democratic likely voters “paints a bleak picture for the Sanders campaign.”

The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percent.

Three other states also will vote on March 17: Illinois, Ohio and Arizona. In Florida, more than 728,000 Democrats already have cast ballots.

Biden hopes to sweep all four states, but Florida is more than a big delegate prize. A Biden blowout in the battleground state would send a warning to President Donald Trump in his newly adopted home state, which Trump needs to carry to win a second term.

Winning Florida, a state with a moderate and older electorate, was always an uphill climb for Sanders. The Vermont senator lost to Hillary Clinton in the state by roughly 30 points four years ago.

And Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist who has praised Fidel Castro, has alarmed establishment Democrats in Florida who fear the state would be a lost cause for the party if Sanders captures the nomination.

The UNF poll shows Sanders with a commanding lead among voters aged 18 to 24, but Biden is the overwhelming choice for older voters and blacks.

The poll also has Biden ahead with Hispanics — 65 percent to 28 percent — breaking a run of success Sanders has had with Hispanics in other states.

“Sanders does have a lot of support among young people, however there are just not enough voters in that demographic to propel him to a victory in Florida,” Binder said.

Since Super Tuesday on March 3, Biden also has picked up a wave of endorsements from high-profile Democrats in the state, culminating with the support of Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Wednesday.

Fried, Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat, had remained on the sidelines when there were multiple candidates in the Democratic contest.