COLUMBUS – Former vice president Joe Biden is the only current Democratic presidential candidate who would beat President Donald Trump in a presidential race in Ohio, according to a poll released Thursday morning.
The Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio voters shows Biden favored by 50 percent of the respondents, compared with Trump’s 42 percent. Biden enjoys a comfortable lead among black voters and women.
#JoeBiden is only leading Dem to top #PresidentTrump in Ohio, Poll finds; Former V.P. has big lead in Democratic primary https://t.co/G2EkbCH9W1 #2020Election
— Quinnipiac University Poll (@QuinnipiacPoll) July 25, 2019
While many analysts are predicting that Ohio will no longer be the important swing state it has been in past presidential elections, the Quinnipiac pollsters believe it is still the key to the nation’s blue-collar heartland.
“To get reelected, Trump will need to win the industrial Midwest. Ohio certainly is key to that plan,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
By contrast, Trump is in a virtual dead heat with both Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, with the president holding slim leads of 46 percent to 45 percent. The score is even tighter in a race with California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg – 44 percent to 44 percent – and president holds a slim 44-to-43 percent lead over New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
All of the results, except Biden’s are within the poll’s 3.2 percent margin of error.
Black voters prefer Democratic candidates by a wide margin of 84 percent to 8 percent and Biden leads 53 to 40 percent among women, while men are split with 46 percent for Biden and 45 percent for Trump.
Biden leads the pack for the March 17 Democratic Presidential Primary, with 31 percent of Democrats and independent voters leaning Democratic, compared to 14 percent for Harris and Sanders, 13 percent for Warren and 6 percent for Buttigieg.
That survey includes 556 Democrats and independent voters leaning Democratic, with a margin of error of +/- 5.1 percent.
The larger poll of 1,431 Ohio voters was conducted between July 17 and July 22.