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Bloomberg trails Sanders and other Democratic candidates in string of 2020 polls

Mike Bloomberg at a campaign rally in Tennessee, 12 February: Getty Images
Mike Bloomberg at a campaign rally in Tennessee, 12 February: Getty Images

Mike Bloomberg trails his Democratic rival Bernie Sanders in both head-to-head and values-based measures of support, polls have found.

The billionaire came last, behind even Donald Trump, in a survey that asked potential voters whether candidates shared their values.

Research by USA Today/Ipsos released on Sunday found that just 28 per cent of all adults agreed with Mr Bloomberg’s policy positions, three points behind the incumbent president and two behind the next-worst-performing Democrats, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg.

The same survey handed Mr Sanders yet more support for his frontrunner status in the race to become the Democratic nominee, as nearly two-thirds, or 64 per cent, of self-identified Democrats said the Vermont senator “shares my values”.

The figure puts him significantly ahead of Elizabeth Warren on 55 per cent and former vice president Mr Biden, on 53. Mr Bloomberg languished on 46 per cent, pollsters found.

Of all adults across the political divide, 39 per cent agreed with Mr Sanders, with Ms Warren and Mr Trump coming closest to matching him with 31 per cent.

Mr Bloomberg, 78, has spent hundreds of millions of his own dollars on campaigning while deciding not to take part in early primary voting.

His campaign will kick into high gear on 3 March, known as “Super Tuesday”, when more than a dozen contests will run at the same time. It is into these races that he has poured the most cash and organisational might.

However, the former New York City mayor also trailed Mr Sanders in a Yahoo News/YouGov survey that pitted Democratic hopefuls against each other in hypothetical one-on-one votes.

Asked who they would pick out of Mr Sanders and Mr Bloomberg, 53 per cent chose the left-winger, compared to 38 for Mr Bloomberg. Ten per cent said they were not sure. But he did beat Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who garnered 37 and 33 per cent support, respectively.

Ms Warren ran Mr Sanders closest in the head-to-head comparison, polling at 42 per cent compared to 44, with 14 per cent unsure. The Massachusetts senator is also Mr Sanders’ closest rival on the political spectrum, vying for the so-called progressive vote.

At the weekend, an average of national polls collated by RealClearPolitics had Mr Bloomberg in third place among Democrats on 14 points, behind Mr Biden on 19 and Mr Sanders on 23.

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