College students’ overwhelming support for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign only grew stronger as the Democratic primary narrowed to two frontrunners. While most college Democrats plan on voting for whoever wins the party’s nomination, a significant portion who support former Vice President Joe Biden say they would vote for Donald Trump over Sanders.
The Chegg/College Pulse Student Election Tracker shows Sanders leading Biden 71 percent to 23 percent among college Democrats. Despite the lack of support from young voters, Biden took a strong lead nationally following recent primary wins in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona. And a new survey finds that Biden’s college supporters are far more likely than Sanders’ college supporters to say they would vote for Trump if their candidate doesn’t win the nomination (11% vs. 1%).
Biden Supporters are More Likely to Vote for Trump if Their Candidate Isn’t the Nominee
An overwhelming majority (80 percent) of Sanders’ college supporters will vote for Biden if the former vice president wins the nomination. Sanders supporters are unlikely to vote for Trump over Biden, but 12 percent say they would write in a candidate and 6 percent would not vote at all.
A general election between Sanders and Trump looks vastly different, with 11% of Biden’s college supporters abandoning the party to vote for Trump. If Sanders wins the nomination, three-quarters (75 percent) of college Democrats who support Biden say they would vote for Sanders. Another 8 percent would write in a candidate and 6 percent would not vote. Although there are both “Never Bernie” and “Never Biden” groups among young Democratic voters, those in the smaller “Never Bernie” camp are more willing to vote for Trump than simply write in their candidate of choice.
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Methodology: This survey was designed and conducted by College Pulse. Interviews were conducted among a sample of 2,000 full-time and part-time students attending four-year colleges or universities in the U.S. who are part of College Pulse’s American College Student Panel.
