Poll: Bloomberg, Sanders neck and neck in Virginia

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are running neck and neck for the top spot in Virginia’s upcoming Democratic presidential primary, according to a Monmouth University survey released early Tuesday.

The poll shows Bloomberg and Sanders tied in the Old Dominion at 22 percent, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden at 18 percent. Only one other candidate, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, registered double-digit support in the commonwealth at 11 percent.

The poll suggests that Bloomberg has made significant inroads in Virginia, which holds its Democratic primary on Super Tuesday, despite his relatively late entrance into the presidential race. 

The billionaire launched his campaign in late November, but has worked his way into the top tier of candidates in states that hold their primaries and caucuses on and after Super Tuesday through aggressive spending and advertising.

Still, the Monmouth poll shows many likely Virginia Democratic primary voters are not firmly committed to a particular candidate. Only 25 percent of respondents said that were certain of whom they would vote for in the March 3 primary, while 52 percent said they could still change their mind.

The poll also suggests that the results of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, the first two nominating contests, had little effect on how voters in Virginia see the presidential race.

Only 18 percent said they took a second look at the candidates after those states voted this month. Of those respondents, only 7 percent said they changed their mind about whom they would support.

Eighty-one percent said that the results in Iowa and New Hampshire did not change their thinking about the presidential field, according to the Monmouth poll.

Sanders, who took a close second place in Iowa and won the New Hampshire primary, is hoping that a fractured moderate lane in the Democratic nominating contest and early momentum in the race will propel him to the nomination. 

But the Monmouth poll suggests that he could face a tougher time in places like Virginia, a longtime battleground state that has shifted to the left in recent years. Only 10 percent of likely Virginia Democratic primary voters said that Sanders is their second choice in the contest, tying with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for fourth place on that front.

Biden, Buttigieg and Bloomberg placed first, second and third, respectively, in the second-choice category.

The Monmouth poll surveyed 400 likely Virginia Democratic presidential primary voters from Feb. 13-16. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.