Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a sizable lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and their fellow candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in the latest poll of South Carolina from the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Biden holds a 20-point advantage over Sanders, his closest competitor, with billionaire Tom Steyer coming in third as the only other candidate to meet the threshold to statewide delegates.
The other candidates include: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is not on the ballot in South Carolina.
- Biden: 36%.
- Sanders: 16%.
- Steyer: 15%.
- Warren: 8%.
- Buttigieg: 6%.
- Klobuchar: 4%.
- Gabbard: 1%.
"A key metric for Biden in this make-or-break state is that his support appears to be firm," said Patrick Murray, the director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. "There is still a large chunk of the electorate who are undecided, but they are mainly moderate black voters. That's a group that tends to like Biden.
"Biden appears to be holding on to his core support among African Americans in South Carolina. The recent endorsement by Rep. James Clyburn should help solidify that," he added.
Biden won the most support among African-American voters with 45%, followed by Steyer, 17%, and Sanders' 13% support among black voters.
Monmouth polled 454 likely Democratic primary voters Feb. 23-25 by phone, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.