Michael Bloomberg is on track to deny Bernie Sanders a repeat primary victory in Oklahoma, according to a new poll.
The former New York City mayor, 78, has 20% support in Oklahoma among voters with a history of taking part in Democratic primaries compared with the Vermont senator, 78, who amasses 14%, a Sooner Survey poll released Tuesday found. The pair are followed by former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, with 12% and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, with 11%.
While 14% of voters with a history of participation told researchers they were unlikely to cast a ballot on Super Tuesday (when 14 states weigh in on the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on March 3), and 9% remain undecided, 8% support Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 70, who grew up in Oklahoma. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 59, attracts 6% of the vote.
California and Texas overshadow Oklahoma as a Super Tuesday prize, but it still offers White House hopefuls with 42 delegates in what is shaping up to be a long, hotly contested primary. Although Oklahoma is one of the states candidates with limited resources are likely to deprioritize, it presents Bloomberg, who has so far spent $400 million of his own money on advertising since announcing his candidacy in November and built a campaign infrastructure of 2,000 people, with a relatively easy pickup.
Bloomberg’s campaign manager Kevin Sheekey touted the poll of the state, where Sanders beat then-rival Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 10 percentage points, on Twitter Tuesday.
“MIKE SURGES: Suddenly, it’s a two-way race for the #Democratic primary. @MikeBloomberg is #1 in #OK poll and tied for #1 in #VA,” Sheekey tweeted.
MIKE SURGES: Suddenly, it’s a two-way race for the #Democratic primary. @MikeBloomberg is #1 in #OK poll and tied for #1 in #VA. PLUS: OppositionResearch on Bernie is very damaging, perhaps even disqualifying. Read more/sign up for campaign latest here: https://t.co/SNpyEf52oC pic.twitter.com/qhrdeGAqIy
— Kevin Sheekey TEXT MIKE TO 80510 (@ksheekey) February 18, 2020
Sooner Survey pollsters questioned 500 registered Oklahoma voters over the phone between Feb. 10 and Feb. 13. Findings regarding the smaller subset of Democratic-leaning respondents have a margin of error of plus or minus 7.3 percentage points.
