Nearly 8 in 10 Canadians prefer Dems over Trump; Sanders, Biden most popular: poll

Democratic presidential candidate, former vice president Joe Biden, left, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speak simultaneously during the Democratic primary debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

A new poll finds that if Canadians could vote in the U.S. election, nearly eight in 10 would choose one of the five leading Democratic presidential hopefuls over Republican President Donald Trump.

The Abacus Data online survey of 1,500 adult Canadians finds that 79 per cent would prefer former vice president Joe Biden or Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont over Trump. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren would be preferred by 78 per cent. California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg are preferred by 77 per cent over Trump. In all cases, Trump would get just 21 to 23 per cent of the Canadian vote.

Asked which Democrat they prefer, 46 per cent of the Canadians polled said they didn’t know. Those with a preference were most likely to pick Sanders (17 per cent), followed by Biden (15 per cent), Warren (nine per cent), Harris (eight per cent) and Buttigieg (five per cent).

The poll found that Conservative Party supporters lean toward Biden, although a sizeable minority prefer Trump. Harris and Warren had elevated levels of support among Liberal Party voters. Green Party and New Democratic Party voters leaned toward Sanders, Abacus said.

“In Canada, Trump appears to be somewhat divisive among Conservatives, which may pose some challenges for Conservative political leaders,” said Bruce Anderson in a press release. “Most of their supporters are uncomfortable with the U.S. President, but a sizable minority appear to endorse Trump’s approach.”

The survey isn’t the first to find Democrats are preferred by Republicans in Canada. An Abacus poll of 2,000 Canadians taken in May 2016 found 80 per cent of Canadians preferred Hillary Clinton over Trump while 82 per cent preferred Sanders over Trump.

In June 2016, just after Clinton clinched the nomination, a Mainstreet Research survey of just over 2,000 Canadians found that 73 per cent of them would choose Clinton, 15 per cent would choose Trump and 12 per cent were undecided about whom they would pick.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of 1,500 people is +/- 2.6%, 19 times out of 20, according to Abacus. he data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region, they say.