A nationwide TEXT-IT Poll ® by Chism Strategies revealed that Democratic primary voters across the country rank ideological balance ahead of gender diversity (43% – 23%) when asked about the best way to balance the ticket. However, when offered a list of potential Vice-Presidential candidates to choose from, the top four choices were women.
The survey sample of 840 has a Margin of Error of +/-3.38%. Results were weighted to reflect the likely Democratic primary turnout in 2020.
- Biden leads Sanders 50%/42% among Democratic Primary voters nationwide.
- Ideological balance is the top consideration for a VP candidate at 43%—much more important to Sanders supporters (60%) than Biden supporters (28%).
- Gender diversity is second on the list overall (23%) but for Biden supporters, this concern actually ranks ahead of ideological balance, 33% to 28% respectively.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren is the top VP choice of 26% of Democrats with Senator Kamala Harris at 18%, recent GA gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams at 13% and Senator Amy Klobuchar at 12%.
- Among Biden supporters, the VP choices in descending order are Harris, Klobuchar, Abrams, Buttigieg and Warren.
- Sanders supporters overwhelmingly prefer Senator Warren (43%) among those listed as options but another 22% prefer a choice not offered in the survey. For Sanders voters, Harris is third with 12% and Abrams next with 10%.
- Only when asked about their second choice as a VP candidate did Democratic primary voters rank a male (Mayor Pete Buttigieg) among the top five.
You can find toplines here. To obtain a copy of crosstabs contact brad@chismstrategies.com.
About the Survey: We used interactive text messaging to conduct 840 interviews with actual Democratic Primary voters across the country. The survey instrument was 10 questions and included questions to confirm the demography of each respondent.
About Chism Strategies: Our firm helps Democrats and progressive causes with a range of voter communications and research tools. We are based in Jackson, MS and serve clients nationwide in elections from City Hall to the US Senate. Our TEXT-IT Poll ® tool gathers public opinion through SMS using the best practices in random sample survey research.
