Super Tuesday marks the first time that Michael Bloomberg will appear on the Democratic Primary ballot. To measure his impact on the race, we polled likely Texas Democratic Primary voters to see preferences with and without Bloomberg on the ballot.

Biden and Sanders lead the field

In the poll, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are tied at 24% as voters first choice, followed by Michael Bloomberg at 17%, and Elizabeth Warren at 14%, while no other candidates come close to viability. As pictured in the graph below, Bloomberg has the biggest impact on Biden’s candidacy.

Warren is the strongest second choice

When voters were asked who their second choice was, Elizabeth Warren was the most popular choice.

Warren has the strongest approval rating, Bloomberg the worst

Warren leads the field with an approval/disapproval rating of 66/19, so it shouldn’t be surprising that she is everyone’s second choice. She is followed by Biden at 64/18 and Sanders at 60/27.

Conversely, Bloomberg, who has spent the most on advertising in Texas, had the worst overall approval/disapproval rating at 41/39. Of particular note are young voters, under the age of 45, who give him a 62% disapproval rating. These are remarkable numbers considering Democratic candidates have not aired a single attack ad against him. Given his struggles with the key Democratic constituency of younger voters, it is difficult to see how Bloomberg expands his base beyond these numbers.

Young voters are united, while Texans age 46 and up are divided

While Bloomberg is experiencing high disapproval among young voters, Sanders enjoys the most support from this constituency, followed by Warren.

Yet voters ages 46 and older are experiencing more of a divide, with their candidate preference divided largely among Biden, Bloomberg, Sanders, and Warren.



Texas Democratic voters favor candidates who are for progressive values, with health care leading the way

Likely Democratic Primary voters in Texas show a strong preference for candidates, in particular Biden, Sanders, and Warren, who embrace progressive policies. In particular, health care emerged as the single most popular issue in our survey, emphasizing Texas’ position as the most uninsured state in the nation, followed by climate change and voting rights.

Progressive values are mainstream values, and we’re seeing Texans choose candidates who fight for affordable health care, preserve our environment, and protect voting rights.

Methodology: The Progress Texas/PPP survey of 1,045 likely Texas Democratic Primary voters was conducted by Public Policy Polling from Monday, Feb. 24, 2020 to Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. The method of conducting the poll was 41% phone and 59% text message.



View the full data set here: February 2020 Progress Texas/PPP Poll.