Ahead of South Carolina primary, here's where college students' support lies
Sen. Bernie Sanders is the favored Democratic presidential candidate among college students in South Carolina.
Sanders' support among students in South Carolina, at 40 percent, is the lowest it has been in any contest so far.
The South Carolina Democratic primary is Saturday, and once again, Sen. Bernie Sanders is the favored candidate among college students.
According to a Chegg-College Pulse poll of Democratic and Democratic-leaning students in the Palmetto State, Sanders held a comfortable lead over his opponents, with 40 percent support, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden with 20 percent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 18 percent. Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (13 percent) and Tom Steyer (6 percent) rounded out the top five candidates.
[RELATED: Guess which Democratic candidate leads among New Hampshire college students]
Sanders’ support in South Carolina is the lowest of his support among college students in any of the three primary or caucus states so far. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, his support among students was 35 percent. His support among students in Nevada was 56 percent.
Among Democratic and Democratic-leaning college students, nationally, Sanders leads with 58 percent, Warren with 15 percent, Buttigieg with 9 percent, Biden with 6 percent, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg with 3 percent.
[RELATED: Guess which Democratic candidate leads among New Hampshire college students]
South Carolina, the first-in-the-South primary, has long been considered Biden’s firewall, as the former vice president has underperformed in each of the previous three contests, not just among college students but also among Democratic voters overall. Bloomberg is not on the ballot in South Carolina due to his late entrance to the race but has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on ads across the country.
[RELATED: Bernie Sanders hits the Las Vegas jackpot among Nevada students]
The South Carolina poll results come just hours before Democratic voters head to the polls on Saturday, the last Democratic primary before Super Tuesday on March 3. Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia all cast votes in the Democratic primary on Super Tuesday.
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