Majority of Democrat Voters Expect Biden to Be Nominated, Despite Only Half of Them Wanting It: Poll

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden during a virtual town hall on April 8, 2020. JoeBiden.com via Getty Images

Just over half of Democrats want former Vice President Joe Biden as their party’s presidential nominee, but a clear majority still expect he will become the nominee, according to a poll from Rasmussen Reports, a polling and media company.

The polling firm’s latest national telephone and online survey found that 54 percent of “likely Democratic voters” are satisfied with Biden as the Democrats’ 2020 presidential nominee. Meanwhile, 28 percent of the voters believe that someone else should be the presidential nominee. Another 18 percent indicated that they were undecided.

Ninety-two percent of voters said they think Biden will end up as the Democratic presidential nominee, with 77 percent indicating they believe the odds were “very likely.”

Among the 1,000 “likely voters” surveyed, 36 percent said they believe Democrats need to find someone other than Biden as nominee. Another 45 percent disagreed with the stance, and 19 percent were undecided. Of the likely voters surveyed, 82 percent think Biden will be the likely nominee, with 63 percent saying the odds were “very likely.”

The questions asked were: “How likely is it that Joe Biden will be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020? Very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely, or not at all likely?” and, “Should Democrats find someone other than Biden to be their nominee?”

Rasmussen Reports conducted the survey on May 10-11. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence, the polling firm stated.

(L) Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Del., on March 12, 2020, and (R) President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on April 5, 2020. AP Photo, File

“There’s a lot more voter excitement about a Trump-Biden matchup compared to the last two presidential elections, especially among Republicans,” Rasmussen Reports said in its article about the poll results. “Big majorities of voters in nearly all categories expect Biden to win the Democratic nomination.”

“A former Senate staffer has accused Biden of sexual assault, and voters suspect she may be telling the truth,” the polling firm also noted. “But they don’t expect the media to cover the Biden story like they did the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.”

According to its website, Rasmussen Reports is “an independent polling firm with a bipartisan staff. We do not endorse any political philosophies, parties, or special interest groups. Importantly, unlike other polling firms, Rasmussen Reports does not contribute money to candidates or political parties or groups.”

“Unlike our critics and the vast majority of the 2016 pollsters and pundits that confidently predicted Hillary Clinton’s historic presidency, Rasmussen Reports told readers the 2016 presidential race was always close,” the website also stated.

The company is known for its daily Presidential Tracking Poll which tracks approval and disapproval ratings for the current president.