Sanders, Bloomberg, Biden in Virtual Tie in Virginia Poll

(Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg and Joe Biden are in a tight three-way race for the lead in a poll of likely Democratic voters in Virginia released Tuesday.

Sanders and Bloomberg each have the support of 22% of the likely primary voters surveyed in the March 3 Super Tuesday state by Monmouth University, and Biden had 18%. The poll, conducted February 13-16, has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

Pete Buttigieg follows the top three at 11%, followed by Amy Klobuchar at 9% and Elizabeth Warren at 5%. Some 11% of those surveyed said they were undecided. Even among those who stated a preference, there’s still flexibility, with just a quarter saying they are firmly set on their candidate choice.

(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

In a hypothetical two-way matchup between Sanders and each of the moderates in the race, Biden fared best, leading 51% to 38%.

But that scenario is unlikely given that at least one other moderate besides Biden is likely to continue in the race until at least then. But it’s evidence that Biden’s one-time front-running campaign is damaged by the presence in the race of multiple moderate candidates as Sanders wins over the progressive wing of the party.

Virginia is one of 14 states and U.S. territories that votes on March 3, so-called Super Tuesday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Reno, Nevada at jepstein32@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Chelsea Mes

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