Sixty-one percent of Democratic voters say they prefer a presidential candidate who promises to fight for the issues they care about while 39 percent say they prefer someone who promises unity, a new Hill/HarrisX poll finds.
Despite a majority of Democratic voters choosing a fighter candidate, Democrats were 13 percentage points less likely than Republicans and 3 percentage points less likely than Independents to choose a candidate who promises to fight for their issues.
Seventy-four percent of Republican voters and 64 percent of independent voters chose a fighter candidate in the March survey.
Sixty-six percent of registered voters overall also chose a presidential candidate who promises to fight for the issues they care about compared to 34 percent who preferred a candidate who promises unity.
“If you’re looking for a candidate who agrees on the same policies as you, I think that’s certainly important and that’s what this polling shows,” Mallory Newall, Research Director of Ipsos Public Affairs, told The Hill.
“But it’s important to frame these numbers, especially on the Democratic side, through the lens of electability and whether the candidate is going to be able to beat President Trump in November,” she added.
Tuesday, several key states will go to the polls to vote in their respective nominating contests to determine who will be the Democratic nominee to face off against Trump. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is hoping for successful showing in states like Michigan and Washington in an effort to close the gap between himself and former Vice President Joe Biden, after Biden’s strong showing in the Super Tuesday contests.
The Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online among 1,037 registered voters between March 1-2. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
—Gabriela Schulte
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