Joe Biden’s presidential campaign continues to pick up steam as new polls showed the former vice president ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in progressive-leaning Washington State.
Biden led Sanders 36 percent to 35 percent among Democratic primary voters in a poll taken in the days after Super Tuesday by Seattle-based NBC affiliate King 5. State Democrats chose Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Washington caucus, while the state has since shifted to a primary system.
“I don’t know if Biden wins, but it puts [Washington] in play for him, where it definitely would not have been if it was a caucus state still,” John Wyble, a Washington-based Democratic consultant, told Politico. Caucus systems tend to bring down voter turnout, favoring candidates such as Sanders with a strong, motivated base.
“For Bernie, he doesn’t have a lot of opportunities left to show strength, and Washington would be one of them,” Wyble said. “It would be a big deal if he couldn’t win Washington state.”
An unforeseen factor in the primary is the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak centered near Seattle, with over 100 confirmed cases and 19 deaths. A national NBC exit poll taken during Super Tuesday showed that among voters concerned by the coronavirus, 47 percent chose Biden while 29 percent voted for Sanders.
The Washington primary uses only mail-in ballots, so voter turnout is not expected to be significantly affected by the outbreak. In fact, the state may see record-breaking turnout, according to Washington secretary of state Kim Wyman, a Republican.
“I am guessing we will be over 50 percent,” Wyman said on Friday.