Jonathan Tamai reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer
Surging Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders is leading the party’s primary contests in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, a new poll finds, while President Donald Trump is running neck-and-neck with almost all of the Democratic contenders in those critical battleground states.
The poll, conducted before Sanders’ victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, suggests that only marginal differences separate the Democratic candidates when it comes to their strength against Trump. And it portends another general election that could be decided by a handful of votes in any one of those swing states.
The poll found Trump trailing all the Democratic candidates in Michigan, but virtually tied with each of them in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
RELATED STORIES:
- Pa. looks a lot like America. How come it doesn’t have a bigger say in the 2020 primary?
- Sanders is getting stronger and Democrats are getting worried: ‘We just barely turned blue.’
- A new poll of 2020 swing states shows just how important Pa. will be
If the rest of the electoral map stays the same as in 2016, Democrats would need to win all three states to defeat Trump.
“All three states are up for grabs in 2020,” said Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elections Research Center, which conducted the poll. “Trump is in a more difficult position in Michigan than the other two states, but each of the Midwest battlegrounds could be won by either party, almost regardless of who becomes the Democratic nominee.”
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
