Change Research/ Post and Courier South Carolina Poll: January 26-29

Key Findings

  • Joe Biden leads the Democratic primary with 25%, followed by Bernie Sanders (20%), Tom Steyer (18%), and Elizabeth Warren (11%).
  • Sanders leads among voters 18-34, Steyer leads among voters 35-49, and Biden leads among voters 50 years and older.
  • Biden (30%) and Steyer (24%) leads among black voters, and Sanders (27%) and Biden (17%) lead among white voters.

Change Research surveyed 1,360 likely primary voters in South Carolina, including 651 likely Democratic primary voters, from January 26-29, 2020.

Biden, Sanders, and Steyer Lead the Democratic Primary in South Carolina

Joe Biden leads the Democratic primary with 25%. He is followed by Bernie Sanders (20%), Tom Steyer (18%), Elizabeth Warren (11%), Pete Buttigieg (7%), Tulsi Gabbard (3%), Andrew Yang (3%) and Amy Klobuchar (2%). All other candidates poll at 1% or less. 10% of the Democratic electorate says they are still undecided.

Breakdown by Age

Sanders leads among voters 18-34 with 43% of the vote, followed by Biden (18%), Warren (11%), and Steyer (11%). Steyer leads among voters 35-49 years old with 26%, followed by Sanders (18%), Warren (17%), and Biden (15%). Biden leads Steyer by 15 points among voters 50-64, and by 18 points among voters 65 years and older. Voters 65 years and older have the largest number of undecided voters, with 18% saying they are not sure who they will support.

Breakdown by Race

Biden (30%) and Steyer (24%) lead among black Democratic primary voters in South Carolina, followed by Sanders (16%) and Warren (10%). Sanders leads among white voters with 27% of the vote, followed by Biden (17%) and Buttigieg (15%). 12% of black voters and 8% of white voters say they are undecided.

Toplines

Sample & Methodology

Change Research surveyed 1,360 likely general election voters in South Carolina, including 651 likely Democratic primary voters. The margin of error as traditionally calculated is ± 3.3% for the full sample and ±4.0% for Democratic voters. Change Research reaches voters via targeted online ads that point people to an online survey instrument. Our Dynamic Online Sampling delivers large samples that accurately reflect the demographics of a population. Post-stratification was done on age, gender, ethnicity, education, 2016 vote, geography.