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Roanoke College Poll: Sanders Trumps Trump, Rubio, and Cruz Head-to-Head

Associated Press

The SEC Primary, or Super Tuesday, is upon us – that’s when Virginians will take to the polls to select both Republican and Democratic presidential nominees. A new poll revealing what voters in the Commonwealth are thinking in the weeks before March 1st.

The poll was conducted out of the Roanoke College Institute for Policy and Opinion Research before the Iowa Caucus took place. More than 500 voters were interviewed – and Institute Director Harry Wilson says, Virginian’s aren’t feeling too good about their options:

“We’re not viewing any of the candidates favorably”

With one exception:

“But at this point in time, Sanders is the only candidate whose favorable ratings are higher than his unfavorable ratings.”

That’s right; Bernie Sanders is the only candidate in positive waters – and Wilson says that might not last. The others didn’t fare as well.

“With Clinton with 51% unfavorable, which normally we would say is extremely high, but when you compare that with Donald Trump’s unfavorable of 63%, suddenly Clinton doesn’t look so bad.”

Sanders also leads Republican front runners Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio head-to-head. Hillary Clinton leads Trump, but is statistically tied with Cruz and Rubio.

“So, as of today, it looks like Bernie Sanders would actually be a stronger candidate against those Republicans than Hillary Clinton would be.”

But, Virginia is a diverse state – and we learned in Iowa that polls don’t always set the stage for Election Day. We’ll have to see how Virginians really feel on March 1st

Kelsea Pieters has worked as a reporter and producer for WVTF since March 2014. She regularly contributes feature and news stories and produces Back to the Blue Ridge with Kinney Rorrer. Kelsea graduated from Roanoke College in 2013 with a BA in Communication.
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